-PTI The UIDAI's Aadhaar project for providing unique identity numbers to residents, has huge potential to improve the delivery of social sector schemes like rural employment guarantee, the Economic Survey 2011-12 said. "Aadhaar has huge potential for improving operations and delivery of services," the survey said. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), attached to the Planning Commission, is engaged in providing residents in the country a Unique Identification number (called Aadhaar) linked...

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee ushered in a regime of cash transfers for the payment of subsidies for food, fertilizers and kerosene, along with social welfare payments, by accepting the recommendations of a panel headed by Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India. The recommendations, submitted last month, had prepared a blueprint for transferring cash directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries by linking these to their unique...

-IANS   Calling for effective measures to improve the efficiency of social sector programmes, the Economic Survey for 2011-12 has suggested extending the government's ambitious rural jobs scheme to urban areas, strengthening panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) and skill improvement for enhanced employability. The survey, which was presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in parliament Thursday, said that programmes like Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) have been instrumental in creating employment...

-Moneycontrol.com The coverage under the MGNREGA has consistently increased from 4.51 crore households during 2008-09 to 5.49 crore households during 2010-11 with averaged employment of 47 persondays per household. Average wage has consistently increased from Rs 65 in 2006-07 to Rs. 100 in 2010-11. Women person days have been 48% during the last three years against the stipulation of 1/3 as per the Act. This is stated in Economic Survey 2011-12,...

The Bill governing the unique identity project is unlikely to be introduced in the budget session of parliament, as the Planning Commission needs more time to finalise its revised version.  The Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) Bill, which aims to give legal status to the collection of biometric data and issue of unique identification numbers to all resident Indians, was rejected by a parliamentary committee last year.  "There are many issues...