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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | UPA hopes to reap dividend from Aadhar scheme -Rajeev Deshpande

UPA hopes to reap dividend from Aadhar scheme -Rajeev Deshpande

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published Published on Oct 16, 2012   modified Modified on Oct 16, 2012
-The Times of India

In a significant moment for UPA-II's plans to make cash transfers a reform motif and a pro-poor vote hook, Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will hand out Aadhar number 21 crore in the Rajasthan village of Dudu on Saturday.

Situated some 60-odd km from Jaipur, Dudu will be the stage for the launch of a scheme integrating benefits like rural employment guarantee, pensions and state scholarships for the socially disadvantaged that the government hopes will earn it goodwill ahead of the 2014 parliamentary election.

Singh and Sonia are expected to be accompanied by finance minister P Chidambaram, who made a strong pitch for delivering major subsidies as cash transfers in the 12th Plan, besides Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot.

Bolstered by cash transfer pilot projects for public distribution system, fertilizer and cooking gas showing positive results, the government is hoping to press ahead with a phased rollout that will see Aadhar's unique identity numbers playing a key role in linking beneficiaries and bank accounts.

Aadhar numbers are intended to ensure correct identification of beneficiaries and reduce duplication of records and leakages that mar delivery of subsidies like fertilizer, oil and food that together account for around Rs 2.5 lakh crore.

Political gains that UPA is eyeing factor in transferring cash to bank accounts of crores of beneficiaries, which an estimate suggests can add up to around 10% of the population even if a full rollout is not possible by the time polls are due.

Officials said targeting subsidies like cooking gas, now pegged at six a year could see some 14 crore connections being "rationalized" to around 10 crore. This is in itself would be a large saving as connections are relinquished while some consumers opt out of the subsidy regime.

The central list of PDS users in the below poverty line category adds up to 6.3 crore, and the number is expected to be revised when the food security Act is legislated. Similarly, the Centre supports around 80 lakh scholarships for dalit, tribal and backward castes, who will be covered by Aadhar-linked accounts.

The Rs 36,000-crore a year rural employment guarantee scheme has been hit by patchy maintenance of records, dated receipts, incomplete muster rolls and a shortage of dedicated personnel is affecting the task of measuring and certifying completed works.

Cash transfers, if correctly monitored, can resolve some of these problems and allow officials to use an IT-based system to monitor and update payments and also check whether beneficiaries are indeed receiving their due.

Activists and some policy planners are vehemently opposed to introduction of cash transfers in PDS, arguing that poor beneficiaries might squander the money. So far, pilot projects are offering a more encouraging viewpoint.

The government hopes introduction of safeguards like opening accounts in the name of women household members, pressure to ensure proper nutrition and continuous field checks will fine tune the system.

The Times of India, 16 October, 2012, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/UPA-hopes-to-reap-dividend-from-Aadhar-scheme/articleshow/16829461.cms


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