Gujarat government has launched a separate unique identity (UID) project for every individual residing in the state, finding that the Government of India`s UID project under top I-T honcho Nandan Nilekani is still largely on paper. Under this project, every individual living in Gujarat will have a separate UID number, which will feature several details-whether the person is below poverty line (BPL) or above poverty line (APL), and whether he pays...

The long search for an effective system to target subsidies on food, fertiliser and fuel has finally ended with the Planning Commission accepting the idea of an Aadhaar-based rechargeable smart card. Ideas like direct cash transfers and food stamps have been rejected in favour of the Aadhaar smart card. The new proposal can help target the food subsidy with the tamper-proof biometric cards – Aadhaar unique Identity Cards – being...

The Lokpal Act finally seems set to turn into reality. With civil society members and citizens turning the heat on the government over the setting up of the anti-corruption body, the Lokpal bill occupies centrestage in Delhi's politics. The joint panel, comprising civil society members and Union ministers, has been meeting in New Delhi to hammer out the draft of the anti-corruption bill. Let's take a look at the highlights...

Madhya Pradesh is the only State in the country, which has linked MGNREGA, Treasury, Food Coupon, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the like with Unique Identity Number (UID) card. Over four lakh registrations have been made in the State and 1.61 lakh cards have been distributed. Initially the work of preparing Unique Identity Cards was underway in five districts _ Hoshangabad, Harda, Dewas, Shajapur and Burhanpur _. The first phase work in...

The gap between PAN holders and the number of returns filed was 617.1 lakh Biometrics uses biological method to identify physical features of an individual The government has decided to issue biometric PAN cards to taxpayers across the country to weed out the problem of duplicate and fake ones. The decision was taken recently by the Finance Ministry, in the wake of a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report that asked the Income...