Ruhi Tewari : Tue Oct 01 2013, 00:37 hrs
The Supreme Court order restricting authorities from denying a benefit or service to any citizen of India for not having an Aadhaar card has put the Congress-led government, which had made Aadhaar the basis of its ambitious and overarching Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme, in a tight spot.
The idea behind linking DBT — which aims at eliminating middlemen and plugging leakages in schemes — to Aadhaar was sound, the prime objective being to eliminate duplication as well as ghost beneficiaries. However, the problem was that the government, perhaps driven by electoral considerations, squeezed in too much, too soon. Aadhaar was made the basis of this fairly complex scheme at a time when it was itself in its nascent stages, when Aadhaar enrollment rates were low and seeding with bank accounts poor.
Thus, linking a new, little-understood scheme to Aadhaar — whose need was still being debated — led to absolute confusion. To add to it, the government expanded the Aadhaar-linked DBT scheme to 121 districts in July.
Compounding the problem further was the ambiguity of the government's approach. It maintained Aadhaar was not mandatory but subtly conveyed that citizens had no option but to get themselves enrolled. In Delhi for instance, an Aadhaar number is needed to register marriages, property or even to obtain income certificates. In villages, people have been told they won't get anything — work under the MGNREGA, rations, or school admissions — without Aadhaar.
At a larger level, the government started making more schemes dependent on Aadhaar by bringing them under the DBT net. Thus, people had to get themselves enrolled if they wanted the cash subsidy for kerosene in some districts; or if they wanted their pensions and scholarships directly in bank accounts. Now LPG subsidy is set to be brought under DBT in 289 districts by the beginning of next year.
The apex court's order, meanwhile, has put the government on a sticky wicket. It had envisioned the implementation of the DBT — which it hoped would be its electoral trump card — on the basis of Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. It would be difficult for the government to go back on the plan now, but it would be equally tricky to blatantly insist on Aadhaar to be eligible for benefits under the DBT.
With barely any time left for polls, it faces an arduous task.
Ruhi is a special correspondent based in Delhi
ruhi.tewari@expressindia.com
