Govt mulling resumption of Aadhaar linked DBT scheme

UIDAI, Plan panel senior officials visiting 300 districts spread across country to study impact of Aadhhar-based scheme

Government is mulling restarting DBT scheme to directly transfer money into Aadhhar-linked bank accounts with a view to plug leakages by weeding out ghost beneficiaries.

"Government may restart the Aadhaar-linked direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme as it has initiated the exercise to evaluate the efficacy of the scheme," a source said.

Planning Commission and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which implements the Aadhhar project, are jointly preparing a report on the Aadhaar-link DBT scheme.

The source said the UIDAI and the Commission's senior officials are visiting 300 districts spread across the country to study the impact of the Aadhhar-based scheme.

The Commission has been asked to submit the report on the Aadhaar based DBT in these 300 districts before August 15, he added.

Earlier on January 30, the UPA government had suspended the ambitious direct benefit transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme, where consumers in 289 districts in 18 states got cash of Rs 435 per month in their bank accounts for purchasing cooking gas at market rate.

The DBTL scheme was put on hold due to complaints that many were not getting the benefit in absence of either an Aadhaar card or a bank account linked Aadhaar.

The working of the UIDAI had come under scrutiny of the Supreme Court, which in an interim order, had observed that the identification number cannot be made mandatory for availing of benefits of the government's subsidy schemes.

As per experts, government would have to seek apex court permission to modify earlier interim order for resumption of the Aadhaar-linked direct benefit transfer scheme for making payment of benefits.