Vijay Iyer, October 1, 2010 (Mumbai)
The Unique Identification Adhaar numbers have been launched amidst much fanfare by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in a rural hamlet in Maharashtra. The villagers who received the number now feel their lives would change with the new identity they now have, a 12-digit number.
For example, Sharad Nigude and his family were among the first to receive the number on September 29. He hopes this number will help them get their due through various government schemes. "Earlier, we did not known anything. We used to take whatever we use to get."
The villagers at Temli village are hoping the Adhaar scheme will help them finally bypass the hindrance of the middleman, overcoming an age old problem that has plague them.
"We never got the full quota. We only used to get 25 kgs of rice & 10 kgs of wheat. Now we expect to get our share with Aadhaar," said Sharad's wife. Every year, the government distributes 35.8 million tonne of foodgrains through the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS), spending Rs. 60,000 crore from the Central exchequer. However, about 30% of this used to go to waste due to poor logistics.
At a time when the PDS is under scrutiny, the introduction of initiatives like Adhaar could one of the first steps to change the delivery mechanisms and bring in changes for millions of people living across the country.
For example, Sharad Nigude and his family were among the first to receive the number on September 29. He hopes this number will help them get their due through various government schemes. "Earlier, we did not known anything. We used to take whatever we use to get."
The villagers at Temli village are hoping the Adhaar scheme will help them finally bypass the hindrance of the middleman, overcoming an age old problem that has plague them.
"We never got the full quota. We only used to get 25 kgs of rice & 10 kgs of wheat. Now we expect to get our share with Aadhaar," said Sharad's wife. Every year, the government distributes 35.8 million tonne of foodgrains through the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS), spending Rs. 60,000 crore from the Central exchequer. However, about 30% of this used to go to waste due to poor logistics.
At a time when the PDS is under scrutiny, the introduction of initiatives like Adhaar could one of the first steps to change the delivery mechanisms and bring in changes for millions of people living across the country.