HYDERABAD: Raising serious security issues over Aadhaar cards, an enrolment agent has processed 30,000 unique indentity cards (ID) within a span of just six months in the Old City. Also, among them 800 were enrolled under the physically-disabled persons category. However, a probe by investigating agencies revealed that the Aadhaar cards registered under the physically-disabled category were created with fake identities. The civil supplies department, which is the nodal agency for...

“The best way to solve the problem of surplus foodgrains is to roll out food security law” Opposing the Union Finance and Food & Civil Supply Ministries' proposal for providing foodgrains as part payment of wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh holds that the best way to solve the problem of surplus foodgrains is to roll out the food security law...

Officials may pocket the wage increases, but the wage level in MGNREGA seems just enough to induce workers to turn up. This year marks the sixth anniversary of the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), India's landmark right-to-work programme. The Act guarantees 100 days of paid employment to every rural household in India (up to 850 million people), regardless of eligibility criteria, and establishes the government's...

UPA-II's plans to replace the existing fertiliser subsidy regime with direct cash transfers to farmers will be delayed as the fertiliser ministry is likely to scrap an intermediate phase where the subsidy was to be rerouted from companies to retailers this summer. This puts paid to the fertilizer industry's expectation that very soon it would be out of the subsidy mechanism which locks up precious working capital. "We are rethinking the original...

Move could save banks significant money spent on record-checking and documentation In what could usher in an era of paper-less, real-time authentication, the finance ministry is looking into allowing online Aadhaar authentication as a valid proof of identity for opening bank accounts. The ministry is considering an amendment to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, or PMLA, to recognize online Aadhaar data to satisfy know-your-customer (KYC) requirements. This will pave the way for...