The ambitious and controversial Unique ID scheme — Aadhaar — received a
double boost in this year's budget: not only did Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee sanction Rs. 1,758 crore to enrol 40 crore more
residents, but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also emphasised that the
scheme would soon become the main channel through which people could
access a wide variety of budget benefits.
“I
propose to allocate adequate funds to complete another 40 crore
[beyond the existing 20 crore] enrolments starting from April 1, 2012,”
said Mr. Mukherjee in his budget speech. “The Aadhaar platform is now
ready to support the payments of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act; old age, widow and disability pensions; and
scholarships directly to the beneficiary accounts in selected areas.”
He
outlined the pilot projects that have already started using Aadhaar to
validate PDS ration cards and reduce leakage in LPG and kerosene
subsidies through direct transfers. He claimed that substantial
economies in subsidy outgo could be achieved through the Unique ID
scheme.
Part
of the Rs. 1,758 crore that has been sanctioned will be used to help
scale up these pilot schemes and roll out Aadhaar-enabled payments in
at least 50 districts within six months. A computerised PDS network to
implement the Food Security Bill will also rely on Aadhaar.
In
an interview to Doordarshan soon after the budget was presented, the
Prime Minister drew a vision of a future budget, which would depend on
Aadhaar to deliver most of its goodies.
Asked
if Aadhaar — despite controversies over privacy, security and
legitimacy — would be “the main platform on which the budget is to
distribute benefits to the people of India,” Dr. Singh replied: “I
think the Finance Minister has made that quite clear… There may be
controversies, and there are controversies in this sort of thing all
over the world. But we have, I think, begun well and we will use the
modern technological devices to cut out wastage and leakages in the
delivery mechanism for various public-sector services.”
The
ringing endorsement is significant, given that barely months ago the
Unique Identification Authority of India and its chairman Nandan
Nilekani were under fire from all sides. The Home Ministry had raised
security concerns regarding Aadhaar's enrolment techniques in what was
widely perceived to be a turf war due to overlaps with its National
Population Register. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance had
rejected the Bill meant to give the Aadhaar project a legal backing,
slamming its high costs, lack of privacy safeguards and lack of clear
purpose. Privacy activists are still crying foul, claiming that the
budget's sanction of fresh funds is a slap in the face of Parliament.
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