-Economic and Political Weekly A cost-benefi t analysis by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy of the benefits from Aadhaar integration with seven schemes throws up huge benefi ts that are based almost entirely on unrealistic assumptions. Further, the report does not take into account alternative technologies that could achieve the same or similar savings, possibly at lower cost. Reetika Khera (reetika.khera@gmail.com) is at the Institute of Economic Growth on...
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Aadhaar can fix Kotkasim-like problems: Jairam -Rukmini Shrinivasan
-The Times of India Is Aadhaar the difference between what happened in Kotkasim and what could have been? That's the stand the government is taking, but the critics of the Unique Identification (UID) disagree. After TOI wrote on Sunday of how payment delays were threatening to undo a pilot programme in which cash is transferred to a person's account in place of the kerosene subsidy in Kotkasim, Rajasthan, rural development minister Jairam...
More »UID: Are your biometric I-cards stacked against you?-M Rajshekhar
-The Economic Times Imagine a rural family of five. Mom. Dad. Two kids. And Grandma. Assume too that they are below the poverty line. The day is coming when this family will have to give its biometrics out to myriad agencies. You know that Nandan Nilekani's Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) or the Registrar General's National Population Register (NPR) has been collecting biometrics for a while now. But a set of other...
More »UIDAI: Finance Ministry gives cold shoulder to Aadhaar project
-The Times of India The national project to give unique identity numbers to all Indians, and enable welfare payments electronically, is now facing a snub from the very part of the government that funds it, and has been its most staunch supporter so far: The finance ministry. Two moves initiated by the banking division in the finance ministry over the past three months appear to duplicate and bypass the work being done...
More »Do we need the Aadhar scheme?
-The Business Standard Its guarantee of non-duplication can have far-reaching cost benefits but it has deep design flaws that can be compromised. PRAVEEN CHAKRAVARTY Former Volunteer, Financial Inclusion, UIDAI* “Aadhaar is an unadulterated identity programme that answers the question: Is the individual who he or she claims to be?” The word “unique”, and not “identity”, is central to the unique identity programme or Aadhaar. It may be true that the vast majority of people possess some...
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