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E Governance | Aadhaar brings pension home by Santosh K Kiro

Aadhaar brings pension home by Santosh K Kiro

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published Published on Feb 10, 2012   modified Modified on Feb 10, 2012

For a change, Mangal Bedia did not board a crammed bus today and travel 15km to withdraw his old-age pension from a bank.

The 70-year-old from Dohakatu village in Ramgarh district, along with 100-odd fellow elders, became the first citizens to access old-age pension by using their Aadhaar numbers with handheld ATMs on the doorstep.

The banking service reached their village, thanks to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Until today, these men and women used to queue up outside the Bank of India branch in Ramgarh.

Bedia was delighted. “Abhi bahut aram hai. Paisa nikalne ke liye hum ko bhid wali bus mein nahi jana padega (It’s all very comfortable now. I do not have to travel in crowded buses to go to withdraw my money).”

He withdrew Rs 300 out of his monthly pension of Rs 400, deposited by the government in his Aadhaar-enabled bank account at the Ramgarh branch of Bank of India.

Director-general of UIDAI Ram Sevak Sharma, accompanied by senior officials and Ramgarh deputy commissioner Amitabh Kaushal, launched the technology-enabled disbursal that also included scholarships for Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) students — another first for Dohakatu and the nation.

UIDAI, which is carrying forward its Aadhaar authentication services by testing its utility for welfare and social security schemes, had successfully conducted a trial of Aadhaar-enabled payments to MGNREGS workers with the help of micro ATMs in a number of villages in Jharkhand last month.

Under the system, financial institutions select banking correspondents in the villages and equip them with micro ATMs and a certain amount of cash. The Aadhaar-enabled account holders approach the correspondent and press their thumbs, which work like passwords, on the ATM to authenticate their account numbers.

The ATM then displays the balance in his or her account to the beneficiary before allowing withdrawal of money. The correspondents go around villages, carrying the micro ATM to extend banking services to the residents.

“I withdrew Rs 400 out of my scholarship of Rs 660 from my bank account by using my Aadhaar number. I want to buy notebooks and school uniform,” said Nisha Kumari, a Class IX student of Utkramit Uchch Vidyalaya in Gandke near Dohakatu.

Nearly 70 other boys and girls from her school also withdrew cash.

Located about 25km from Ranchi, Dohakatu has a population of about 7,000, mostly tribals. Mukhiya Kalawati Devi (36) said many middlemen in her village were active and hence cash benefits of the government did not fully reach the beneficiaries, which the Aadhaar-enabled system would resolve.

UIDAI director-general Sharma said the new system of cash transfer would bring in a lot more transparency in transactions between the government and the people.

“Banks which have opened branches have extended banking services to only 5 per cent of the villages in the country. In such a situation, Aadhaar-enabled services through micro ATMs will bring about a revolution in banking services, which will ensure transparency in financial transactions,” he said.
 
 

The Telegraph, 10 February, 2012, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120210/jsp/frontpage/story_15116065.jsp


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