5244 - 'Modi Not An Individual, An Idea' - New Indian Express

'Modi Not An Individual, An Idea'

By Rajashekara S and Hemanth Kumar - BANGALORE

Published: 28th February 2014 08:39 AM

Last Updated: 28th February 2014 11:32 AM

Handpicked by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to halt the winning run of BJP’s national general secretary Ananth Kumar in Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency, UIDAI chief Nandan Nilekani is already raising the poll dust. But the BJP think tank is making quiet preparations to turn the tables on Nilekani by picking holes in his pet project. Former Union minister and BJP leader Yashwant Sinha dropped enough hints about the strategy during his conversation with Rajashekara S and Hemanth Kumar from Express. Excerpts.

Congress is hoping to humble Ananth Kumar this time with Nandan Nilekani in Bangalore South. How  do you see Aadhaar having its impact on the fortunes of BJP here?

Aadhaar will be a big baggage for Nilekani. He (Nilekani) will have a lot to explain. We will not support Aadhaar in its present form if the BJP is voted to power. Nilekani is the only person who has benefited from Aadhaar, as he has been rewarded with a Congress ticket. The Parliamentary Committee on Finance had rejected Aadhaar with many adverse comments in 2011. It has not benefited the common man.

BJP is talking about UPA scams. But what about scams during the BJP regime?

There has been a very strenuous attempt to equate the BJP with the Congress on corruption.

The magnitude of the Congress scams is unimaginable with a single scam of the size `2 lakh crore. It is a totally irrelevant comparison. Law will take its own course in case of BJP scams. But the Congress has prevented law from taking its course. The Congress has criticised agencies like CAG and used every rule to conceal corruption.

BJP’s aggressive posturing of winning a comfortable majority on its own seems to be very unrealistic.

It is the strong who will attract the allies, not the weak. It is not overconfidence. It is hard work and confidence. Our mission of 272+ is very realistic. We will produce unlikely results in unlikely spots. BJP will score huge gains in UP and Bihar. We will do exceedingly well in our traditional areas of strength like Gujarat, MP and Rajasthan.

We may spring a big surprise in West Bengal too. North Eastern region too is showing encouraging signs. So it is not an impossible dream.

By projecting Modi as the PM candidate, are you not eliminating the chances of getting new allies if BJP falls well short of the magic figure?

Modi is not an individual. He is an idea. He symbolises strong leadership, success and development against the weak and inefficient leadership in other parties. Modi is an idea in contrast with UPA’s failures.

Once BJP attains the critical mass in next Lok Sabha elections, even those who have kept away from the party in the past will come back.

It has happened in the past too during the Janata, VP Singh and Vajpayee governments. Getting new allies post-polls is not difficult.

In its quest for power has BJP given up on its core ideological issues like Ram Temple, uniform civil code etc.?

After the 2003 Assembly elections, the  BJP has made development its main focus. Ram Temple is an issue of faith.

The most important lesson that we have learnt from Vajpayee is the importance of consensus. Ram Temple and uniform civil code will be addressed through the process of evolving a consensus or judicial verdict.

What is your take on Third Front?

I do not want to waste my time talking about it.

BJP and Modi’s campaign so far has been limited to Congress and Rahul bashing. But Modi is yet to come out with a convincing alternative vision for the country’s development, foreign policy and strategic challenges.

Drafting of our manifesto is in progress. It will spell out our vision for all the sectors. First we will undo the mistakes of UPA government in economic and foreign policy. Already you can see the change in attitude of the US towards Modi.

The US Ambassador recently met Modi over the visa issue. Modi has sent a strong message against the expansionist mindset of China. There are lot of grey areas that will automatically vanish once Modi comes to power

5243 - An identity at last as 71 transgenders get Aadhaar cards - Indian Express

An identity at last as 71 transgenders get Aadhaar cards

Chandigrah | February 28, 2014 4:45 am

SUMMARY

Social welfare dept caters to elderly and infant eunuchs but eunuchs in the age group of 19-59 years face a difficult time

SHYNA KALRA

As many as 71 transgenders have enrolled for Aadhaar card in the city, getting an identity for the first time.

However, with several departments still having just two categories of males and females, the transgenders say that this causes problems in availing even basic facilities. The estimated population of transgenders in the city is between 1,500 and 2,000.

One of the problem areas is the department of birth and death registration. Karanpal Chaudhry, junior statistics and data registrar (birth and death registrar), Chandigarh, says: “People do not come to get a birth certificate for a eunuch born to them as they consider it to be a shame. Their application for death certificate also never goes beyond two-three in a year. In that case too, we put them in the male category by default because there is no other provision. The rest of them do not get themselves registered at all.”

Rajesh Jogpal, director, social welfare department, Chandigarh, says, “In Census 2011, eunuchs were merged under the male category during data collection. They were to be identified and separated into a third category later but the merger continued during the processing stage too. So the government is incapable of having an exact data about them.”

The social welfare department caters to the needs of elderly and infant eunuchs but eunuchs in the age group of 19-59 years find it hard to decide which government department to approach for help.

Sharing the problem of the community, Dhananjay Chauhan, an LGBT leader who heads Saksham Trust, says, “No one keeps eunuchs or even gays at home. Children at very younger age are brought to deras (residence for eunuchs). Without a family background and no option of gender, they become vulnerable. It is really hard to get government certificates. Thus only occupation they are left with is to earn through badhais (blessings).”

Kajal Mangal, a eunuch, is registered as a female in a voter card and as a male in corporate forms. One of the major hurdles the community faces is of having separate toilets in a workplace to save them from humiliation. Some universities and political parties like Aam Aadmi Party have also got the option of ‘others’ in their application forms. While birth certificate, death certificate, voter IDs and school admissions are still a problem, the social welfare department has plans to add a third gender column in OPDs.

5242 - Aadhaar & database risks: Will India evaporate to become nobody in our life time? –Part XXIX - Money Life

Aadhaar & database risks: Will India evaporate to become nobody in our life time? –Part XXIX

GOPAL KRISHNA | 27/02/2014 04:07 PM |   

Legislators, who are wittingly or unwittingly promoting UIDAI’s biometric data collection, have committed an inexcusable, unpardonable blunder. Our future generations may deem this to be an act of treason for having facilitated entry of cyber Trojans that endangered India's territorial integrity by hollowing it from within

If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?

-Abraham Lincoln, the 16^th President of US, who was assassinated in 1865

The Internet was conceived and designed by a man named Larry Roberts in 1963. Larry

was invited to Washington by Ivan Sutherland, the then head of Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)’s computer research. Internet was called ARPA network (ARPAnet) then and was designed to be a fail-safe messaging system that packetized information. The military was funding ARPAnet at a time when the cold war was almost at its peak. Some countries including United States, want to make sure that there is some means for them to listen into messages, like wiretapping.

-Prof Nicholas Negroponte, author of Being Digital, 1995

Read Full Article

5241 - High Aadhaar registration in state but many yet to get card - dna India

High Aadhaar registration in state but many yet to get card

Friday, 28 February 2014 - 8:30am IST | Agency: DNA

Though Maharashtra has one of the highest registrations for Aadhaar card in India, with 9 crore citizens registering, hundreds haven't received their cards at their homes.

IT department and UIDAI officials, however, insist that e-Aadhaar cards can be downloaded and you don't need them delivered home. But agencies entrusted with the task of generating Aadhaar cards are supposed to send the cards by regular post and don't care to ensure their actual delivery.

"Private agencies are entrusted with the job of generating the cards, but the agency staffers just drop them at the post office. The cards are sent by normal post, not by registered post. Therefore, there is no guarantee that they are delivered," said an IT department official. The postal department too does not take responsibility for the cards' delivery.

State IT secretary Rajesh Agarwal said, "The e-Aadhaar card facility has taken off in a big way. The e-Aadhaar card is as valid as the regular Aadhaar card. Everyday as many as 4 lakh people in the country are printing e-Aadhaar cards. Besides, the IT department is encouraging people to go for e-Aadhaar cards and, therefore, delivery isn't a major issue."

However, citizens have a different story to tell. Ghatkopar resident Tejas Doshi said, "I have not got my Aadhaar card and not even the e-Aadhaar card." Citizens fear the card should not be misused as not all places have the facility to verify the biometric data on it.

Meanwhile, the state government hopes to ensure that 10 crore citizens are registered by monsoon. "As of now, we have 4,000 Aadhaar card registration centres in state. After monsoon, we will only have 2,000 permanent ones to take care of the rest of the registrations," said an IT department official.

UIDAIAadhaar

5240 - Rahul Gandhi 'new superman', PM 'tragic figure': Yashwant Sinha - NDTV

Rahul Gandhi 'new superman', PM 'tragic figure': Yashwant Sinha

Election 2014 | Press Trust of India | Updated: February 26, 2014 23:23 

Rahul Gandhi 'new superman', PM 'tragic figure': Yashwant Sinha

Bangalore:  BJP leader Yashwant Sinha today attacked UPA government's style of functioning, saying Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is the 'new superman' and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a "tragic figure".

"Sri Rahul Gandhi for UPA government has emerged as a new superman; his every word is a command," he said at an interactive session organised by BJP's Karnataka unit.

Recalling the flip-flop by the cabinet over the ordinance relating to convicted politicians and number of subsidised gas cylinders at the 'behest' of Mr Gandhi, he sought to know what the system of collective responsibility of government had come to.

Pointing to separation of power between government and 'politics' between Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, he said "The Prime Minister of India is not only the leader of the government; he is the leader of the whole country".

"How can Dr Manmohan Singh be treated as leader of India when he is not even treated as leader of his own party. I can't imagine the meeting of parliamentary party which is in government where Prime Minister is not presiding over it but somebody else is presiding it- in this (scenario) Sonia Gandhi," he added.

He said what was "worse" was when Rahul Gandhi emerged and assumed office of Congress Vice President, "the PM was pushed from second to third place in the hierarchy... this shows the power equation in UPA."

"If there is somebody who represents the tragedy of Congress party today, more than anyone else- it is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh; he is the tragic figure, even his cabinet colleagues don't listen to him," he added.

Listing out various scams during UPA government's tenure, he hit out at Dr Singh and UPA for its 'inefficiency' in controlling it and for "demeaning" constitutional agencies like CAG who brought the scams into the limelight.

"Let me assure you, it's just a matter of less than three months when we come into office and each one of these scams will be properly investigated by the same CBI which is not investigating them today under political pressure."

Criticizing Aadhar initiative of the government, he said the single outcome of Aadhar is- "someone (Nandan Nilikeni) will be getting Congress ticket to contest Lok Sabha polls."

5239 - We will reinvestigate all scams: Sinha - Business Standard

We will reinvestigate all scams: Sinha

The former finance minister said India must focus on investment-led growth than consumption-led growth

BS Reporter  |  Bangalore  February 26, 2014 Last Updated at 20:47 IST

   

The BJP, if it comes to power, will reinvestigate all the scams unearthed by the CAG, and using the same CBI that worked under the UPA government, said Yashwant Sinha, a senior BJP leader, in Bangalore on Wednesday. 

"Be it the coalgate or the 2G scam or many other scams that have happened under the oversight of the UPA government, all the scams will be reinvestigated. We will get to the root of all the scams," said Sinha, who was in Bangalore to address BJP cadres here. 

Earlier in the day, speaking at an event that was organised by industry body FKCCI, he said, "India must focus on investment-led growth than consumption-led growth. The focus on consumption-led growth was the reason for the economy seeing a low growth rate and at the same time faced inflationary pressures." 

Sinha was very critical of the UPA government's economic policies over the last decade. Speaking the interactive session with businessmen, he was critical of the UPA government's polities that has led to the slowing down of Indian economy. 

The Indian economy has seen a sharp fall in its growth from 2008. The economy that had been growing at 8 per cent or more before that began to see a sharp fall in its rate of growth. Sinha blamed it on the lack of investment in the economy. 

"Today, we are happy with a growth of just 4.5 per cent," he said criticising the sentiments prevalent in the country today.  He said, the government pumped in Rs 3 trillion and spent it on less productive investments. Infusion of that cash has lead to the inflation which has had a devastating effect on the common man. The food inflation, he said, was not because of the lack of foodgrain availability. While there are mounds of foodgrains rotting away in the open, food prices are rising, he said. He blamed this on the mis-directed investments which were going into consumption.

On if promises such as the one made by Jayalalithaa where she had promised TVs, mixer grinders and other consumer durables would stand in the way of the coalition formation, Sinha said: \"I call this the silly season. Let's not take them at face value." 

He did not spare the UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani, who oversaw the implementation of Aadhar as the UIDAI chief. Sinha said, he will be asked to answer for the failure of Aadhar. "All we have to show for the hundreds of thousands of crore spent on Aadhar is a Congress ticket for Nilekani," charged Sinha.

5238 - Subsidies should be targeted better: Sinha - Deccan Herald

Subsidies should be targeted better: Sinha

Bangalore, Feb 26, 2014, DHNS:

Bringing the UPA government under fire for haphazard implementation of various development and economic programmes, former Union Minister for Finance Yashwant Sinha said on Wednesday that subsidies could not be ruled out totally in a developing economy.

“Some subsidies will continue to be important, but they should be targeted better by identifying the right beneficiaries. The problem with Aadhaar was that it was not implemented in a way aligned to the country's security interests or after proper verification of those who needed subsidies,” Sinha said, while speaking at an industry interaction meet on 'Economic Challenges Ahead' organised by the FKCCI in Bangalore.

On one side, he said, the UPA government wanted half the population to be covered by the National Population Register and the remaining under Aadhaar. “This results in a huge waste of taxpayer money,” Sinha said, adding that if the BJP returned to power at the Centre it would take a closer look at the glitches in the implementation of Aadhaar.

Stressing the need for investment-led growth instead of consumption-led growth, Sinha said, “From 2003-04 to 2007-08, we saw record growth rate of near 10 per cent. How? When I assumed charge as finance minister in March 1998, the growth rate was less than 5 per cent. There were huge challenges like high inflation, economic sanctions, the dotcom collapse and the East Asian crisis. We faced the challenge of keeping inflation as moderate as possible so that we could create space for reducing interest rates. 

In those days, the administered interest rates (AIR) were the determining factors in deciding the direction of the market. During our tenure, we gradually brought down AIR from 14 per cent to around 8 per cent. In the market, we saw to it that borrowing could be done at around 6 per cent.  This helped retire inflation substantially. I even started a corporate debt restructuring scheme which helped corporates to approach banks and borrow at lower cost.”

He said that today, the so-called ‘green shoots’ appear and disappear, but never seem to grow under the UPA government. “We had left behind a good economic template for the incoming UPA government to build on. In fact, the first economic survey presented in 2004 by P Chidambaram before the first budget of the UPA government had conceded that the economy is in ‘resilient mode’ and provides huge scope for growth. However, the growth rate in the past year has been abysmal,” Sinha said.

He said that the excellent agriculture output is the only face-saver in the government’s 4.9 per cent growth target, and this has been achieved due to a good monsoon. “I don't think any Prime Minister or finance minister can claim credit for what Lord Indra has done for us,” Sinha said.

He stressed the need to attract investments into projects which would have a multiplier effect on investment demand, which in turn, would stoke consumer demand. “What the UPA government did, instead, was to go in for unrestrained fiscal expansion in 2008-09 to revive consumer spending. The stimulus of 2008-09 pushed inflation beyond sustainable levels,” he said.

Sinha said that the fiscal expansion should have been build on growth-oriented spending and investment-led growth, not consumption-led growth. Instead, simply pushing consumption by pumping in money backfired. “If in 2007-08, the fiscal deficit was 2.5 per cent of GDP, in 2008-09, it touched 6 per cent. The entire cycle of economic activity which the BJP government had embarked on successfully was reversed in 2008-09,” Sinha claimed.

Blaming the government for its ham-handed way of handling food inflation, he said, “If you have high food inflation and don’t control the circumstances for that inflation, then not only will food inflation go up vertically, it will also spread horizontally to other sectors of the economy.”

5237 - A billion UIDs by 2015-16: Nilekani - Business Standard

A billion UIDs by 2015-16: Nilekani

Unique Identification Authority of India has recently got the mandate to enroll in four more states

BS Reporter  |  New Delhi  February 26, 2014 Last Updated at 20:50 IST

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which is expected to meet its target to enroll 600 million people over the next few weeks, is now targeting to cover a billion residents over the next one year. 

UIDAI chief Nandan Nilekani said that the authority has recently got the mandate to enroll in four more states, which means that it could give a Aadhaar number to 950 million people by 2015. 

"There could be a billion numbers by late 2015 or early 2016," said Nilekani who was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of a book ‘Growth & Governance, Essays in Honour of Nandan Nilekani’.  

In the initial days of being set up, the authority had set a target to enroll 600 millions by 2014. So far, it has touched 591 million. "By March third week, the target of 600 million would be crossed," said Nilekani who termed the initiative as a "start-up" within the government. 

He also drew a parallel between the users of Whatsapp -- a mobile messaging application, which was recently acquired by Facebook for a whopping $19 billion and the users of Aadhaar. 

He said that while in five years Whatsapp acquired 450 million users in 5 years, Aadhaar already has almost 600 million in 4.5 years. "So, it was like doing it at Internet speed in the government." 

Nilekani had last week made public his plans to resign from UIDAI by end of March as he decided to contest elections from South Bangalore from a Congress party ticket. Co-founder of Infosys Ltd, Nilekani relinquished his position from Infosys to join the government in June 2009.

5236 - Axis launches Aadhaar-based eKYC facility for rural banking - Economic Times

Axis launches Aadhaar-based eKYC facility for rural banking

PTI Feb 26, 2014, 04.32PM IST

MUMBAI: Axis Bank today said it has started an eKYC (know your customer) facility for account openings by business correspondents in rural areas, and aims to open 1 lakh such accounts over the next three months to drive its financial inclusion programme.

The facility, which uses the Aadhar database, will enable a bank account to be opened within 24 hours as against the 7-15 days taken in villages at present, said a senior bank official.

"We will be opening 1 lakh such accounts in the next three months," retail banking president Rajiv Anand told a news agency here.

He said a soft launch of the facility took place in the Adilabad district of Andhra on February 20 and the bank, which was also the first to launch the eKYC facility at its branches, will now ramp it up in other parts of the state initially and then in other states.

There is no change in the equipment and infrastructure which the BC carries, he said, adding the same handheld Micro- ATM machine will be used to collect a customer's fingerprints.

"All you need to open an account is the Aadhar number and the fingerprints. At the back-end, with the help of NPCI, our servers will verify the details with the Aadhar database and the account will be opened," he said.

Anand said potential benefits of the facility are immense as this will empower the customer to get associated benefits like transfers under the direct benefit transfer (DBT) directly.

The bank will initially be targeting beneficiaries of DBT and pensioners for the account openings, he said. The bank said 52 per cent of its 2,300 branches are in semi-urban, rural and unbanked areas at present.

5235 - Aadhaar benefited only the project head: Sinha - Deccan herald

Aadhaar benefited only the project head: Sinha

Bangalore, Feb 26, 2014, DHNS:

The only person who has benefitted from Aadhaar scheme is the man heading the project, who got a nomination from the Congress to contest the Lok Sabha polls, senior BJP leader and former Union Finance minister Yashwant Sinha has said.

“The parliamentary committee on finances in its report suggested that the government should drop the Aadhaar scheme as it was not feasible. Yet the government went ahead spending thousands of crores of rupees to generate Aadhaar numbers. The only person to benefit is its head,” Sinha said, without naming Nandan Nilekani, the chairperson of Unique Identification Authority of India. Nilekani is likely to contest Lok Sabha elections from Bangalore South constituency.

Sinha was delivering a talk on “UPA 1 and 2: Scams, economic failures and hampered development” organised by the BJP for invited industrialists and entrepreneurs in Bangalore on Wednesday. Sinha claimed the banking industry had become the latest “victim” of the “misrule” of the UPA government. “If the economy does not pick up, the sector will be in unimaginable problem”, Sinha said

5234 - Proposal to set up five Aadhaar correction centres - Deccan herald

Proposal to set up five Aadhaar correction centres

Akram Mohammed, Mysore, Feb 25, 2014, DHNS:

A nominal charge may be levied to make corrections

A proposal has been sent to the e-governance cell of Karnataka State, seeking permission to open Aadhaar ‘Correction Centers’ in the district. Among the proposals made, is collection of a nominal fee from persons who want to make use of the facility.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Deputy Commissioner C Shikha said, though a proposal has been sent, the Cell is yet to receive permission for setting up the same.

Though nominal fees will be charged at the centres, she said, the amount is yet to be decided. Sources said, the fee will be between Rs 15 and Rs 30.

A total of five correction centers have been proposed for the district. Sources said, the ‘about five per cent’ of the approximately 30 lakh population in the district, who have enrolled for Aadhaar, might rectify the mistakes in the Aadhaar cards issued to them.

According to Shirish Kumar, Assistant Director General of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), a total of 27,80,597 unique identification numbers have been generated for Mysore district. ‘Five per cent’ of the cards requiring corrections, will amount to about 1.4 lakh Aadhaar cards requiring corrections.

Though people can apply for correction online, the correction centers are aimed at populations, with little access to technology.

New enrolment centres

Fourteen months into the introduction of Aadhaar-based Direct Benefit Transfer in the district, Aadhaar enrolment process is yet to be completed. Therefore, five new Aadhaar enrolment centres, three in Mysore (Ashodaya Samithi, Ballal Circle, Mysore; MCC Zone-4 office, near Akashavani, Mysore and MCC Zone-8 office, Udayagiri, Mysore), one at old town municipal office, H D Kote and one at Ambedkar Bhavan, Periyapatna, will come up.

Aadhaar enrolment was launched on a pilot basis in the district during the year 2009. The first phase of enrolment, which had set a target of 85 per cent enrolment in the district, was held from 2010-12.

The second phase, in order to ensure the enrolment of remaining 15 per cent of the population, was held from December 2012 to December 2013. However, as per the petitions submitted by the likes of MLA Tanveer Sait and Periyapatna tahsildar to continue enrolment centres, several of the residents are yet to enrol for Aadhaar.
102 per cent enrolment

According to UIDAI data, a total of 30,62,218 persons have enrolled for Aadhaar in the district, as against the census population of 29,94,744, resulting in an enrolment of 102 per cent.

Ashok M R Dalwai, Deputy Director General of UIDAI, responding to the percentage of enrolment in the district, said, there were ‘no surprises’ in the rate of enrolment observed in the district.

“It is possible that people who are not residents of Mysore, might have enrolled in the district.There was nothing wrong in such enrolments,” he said. He said, enrolment ratio, which is more than the population of the district, have been observed in several places of the country. 

5233 - Piggybacking on Aadhaar, banks can reach financial inclusion target by May

Piggybacking on Aadhaar, banks can reach financial inclusion target by May

Arun S , Arup Roychoudhury | Updated: Feb 24 2014, 14:04 IST

SUMMARY

If a bank achieves 40% today on the basis of its current disbursement, it will achieve 50% adjusted PSL target.

The RBI panel report on financial inclusion has attracted criticism from bankers and financial sector experts for its “unrealistic” financial inclusion and priority sector lending (PSL) targets. Many have also questioned the viability of ‘payment banks’, a system designed to help banks achieve financial inclusion targets. In an interview to FE’s Arun S and Arup Roychoudhury, the RBI Central Board member and chair of the Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low-Income Households, Nachiket Mor defended the panel’s recommendations and said the targets are indeed achievable. Edited excerpts:

Are you confident that banks, which are now finding it tough to meet the PSL target of 40% of adjusted net bank credit (ANBC), can achieve the 'adjusted PSL target of 50%' that the report suggests?

The (PSL) target is still 40% of ANBC. The adjusted number is along with weightages. If a bank achieves 40% today on the basis of its current disbursement, it will achieve 50% adjusted PSL target. If we had kept it at 40% and added weights, it would have amounted to a sharp reduction in PSL requirement.

People are commenting on the issue somewhat casually. They need to look at the actual computation method mentioned in the report. At the end of the day, these percentages are a matter of debate. The core issue is does one think specialization is a good idea or not? In the report, sectors and districts are given weightages on the basis of the difficulties in lending to them. The more difficult ones get a higher weightage and the less difficult ones get a lower weightage. A bank will have to achieve an adjusted PSL value of 50% by following the weightages.

Those lending to a difficult sector in a difficult-to-reach district can benefit from a multiplier value based on the specific district and sector. That's the core idea. The RBI has to decide exactly what that weight should be. We have given some regional weights. Some banks say “I don’t disburse in those areas.” The reality is that we have done this calculation and it is in the report. If you disburse your loans today at 40%, you will get to 50 points. There is no increase in the target.

The report has set a target of January 1, 2016 for each Indian resident, aged above 18, to have an individual, full-service and safe electronic bank account. Do you seriously think this is achievable? If so, what is the rate at which banks have to open accounts to ensure that they reach this target?

If you follow the traditional methods of doing this, 2016 is too ambitious a target. In fact, you may need another 20 years. The idea hidden in the report is that you have to use other strategies to get to the target. In State Bank of India alone, in the last two or three years, they have opened 200 million accounts. I learnt about this recently from SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya. A single bank is opening such a large number of accounts using agents, and not using their branches.

The point we (the panel) are making is that you have to use new approaches to get to those targets. These include agents, PPIs (prepaid instrument issuer) or payment banks and post offices. These are people who are able to move at a different pace and have a different economic structure. If you piggyback on the Aadhaar process, opening a bank account can be done much faster. There are already one billion mobile connections. Tomorrow you (Aadhaar-holder) can get an SMS and you can have a billion bank accounts.

The point being made is, if you follow traditional approaches of opening up branches and identifying customers, even four years is not enough. It is okay to say shift the target from 2016 to 2018. But there is no logic to that number then. We put our recommendations on the basis of our thinking that the Aadhaar process will complete the enrollment, because if you are piggybacking on Aadhaar, then the process will get done by 2016 or even earlier. Aadhaar will cross 70 crore card-holders by May this year. That itself gives you nearly 100% coverage in terms of bank accounts.

There is criticism that the payment banks model is not viable given the proposed norms, including prohibition on them extending credit, even as they will be required to comply with all other RBI guidelines relevant for banks including the Cash Reserve Ratio. They have to also deposit the balance proceeds in approved Statutory Liquidity Ratio securities with a duration of no more than three months and won’t be permitted to assume any credit risks. They will also be restricted to holding a maximum balance of Rs 50,000 per customer. Do you think investors are convinced about the viability of payment banks given the stringent norms?

In fact, ‘payment banking’ is the only profitable part of banking. If you take it away, then banking is not a profitable business. So how can you simultaneously say that it is the most profitable part of banking but it is not viable? If you look at today's PPIs, including Airtel Money, they seem to be doing okay, even though they are not growing. Worldwide there are many institutions that are just doing payments, and that too very competitively. You have to think about what process you have to choose. But if you are going to set up branches and then follow the traditional model, you may not achieve the (financial inclusion) target. In that case, don't set up a payment bank. You have to use alternate mechanisms to get there. SBI uses the agents' route, instead of branches.

Will the final norms be diluted, considering the criticism?

The committee has made recommendations, but I don't know if the RBI will accept those.

When will the guidelines be out?

I can’t say. It could be tomorrow, or it could be 20 years from now. Sooner they come out with the guidelines, the better. Fundamentally, we have not suggested any new ideas in the report. All ideas, including PPIs, business correspondents and cooperative banks, are already on the ground. We have simply asked how we can clean them up, strengthen them and make them more effective.

5232 - Aadhaar link to job cards gains pace - TNN

Aadhaar link to job cards gains pace

TNN | Feb 25, 2014, 10.54AM IST

RANCHI: Block development officers, rozgar sevaks and panchayat sevaks in Khunti are fast clearing backlogs in linking MGNREGA job cards and Aadhaar numbers after they were threatened with action.

The nodal officer for MGNREGA in Khunti had, on January 25, written to all BDOs to finish the process by January 31. According to the letter, job cards of 13,206 labourers in six blocks were not seeded with Aadhaar numbers and bank accounts. The letter issued by the MGNREGA nodal officer has been seconded by office of the deputy development commissioner and deputy commissioner of Khunti directing the district officials to complete linkage or face action in the form of non-payment of salary.

Pushkar Singh Munda, DDC Khunti, said linking Aadhaar to the accounts of job card holders is a must. "But since our district has achieved nearly 80% of the target the payments of BDOs and other officials were released," he said. Aadhaar linkage seems to be top priority of officials in Jharkhand. After denying wage payment to labourers working under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment guarantee act in Khunti for not having their job cards linked to UID, instruction has been issued to the BDOs to complete seeding of Aadhar numbers against bank account of the labourers failing which the salary payment of block development officers, block programme officers, Panchayat sevak and Rozgar sevaks would be discontinued.

Rural development secretary Arun, however, denied that Aadhaar linkage is essential for wage payment under MGNREGA. He also refused having issued instruction to stop payment of administrative officials for failing to do so. "To my knowledge linking Aadhar number for wage payment is not essential," he said. 

Similar instructions for completing seeding of Aadhar numbers and job card holders in Ranchi have also been issued by the deputy commissioner who recently asked the district officials to review the progress. Ranchi administration however has refrained from issuing any threat of holding back salary in case of delay

5231 - Aadhaar de-linking: LPG consumers left high and dry - The Hindu

CITIES » HYDERABAD

HYDERABAD, February 24, 2014

Updated: February 24, 2014 12:44 IST

Aadhaar de-linking: LPG consumers left high and dry

M. SAI GOPAL

Those who opted for DBTL wait for over 15 days for subsidy to be credited

Domestic gas cylinder consumers in the State are facing a bizarre situation. Thanks to the recent hike in LPG cylinder quota, customers who have not enrolled in the Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme are paying close to Rs.433 a cylinder. On the other hand, those who already possess the Aadhaar card and have linked it to their bank accounts shell out Rs.1,200 for each cylinder, but face a delay of more than 15 days for the subsidy amount to be credited.

Needless to say, consumers are regretting their decision to opt for the DBTL.

“I paid over Rs.1,200 for a cylinder but it takes more than 15 days for the subsidy to be credited. When I met the gas agency officials, they maintained that the payment would be delayed by more than a fortnight,” says V. Neelima, a housewife from Ramnagar in Warangal.

Customers complain that since January 31, when the Central government decided to increase the quota of subsidised cylinders from nine to 12, the release of subsidy amount to bank accounts has not taken place.

Many also criticise the apparent lack of clarity from authorities in implementing the scheme.

“First, the government said Aadhaar was compulsory and later it said those with a bank linkage would get the refund. The subsidy amount, however, is not being credited on time. At the same time, those who have not linked their Aadhaar card to banks are receiving cylinders at Rs.433,” bemoans Pavan Seth, a consumer from Visakhapatnam’s MVP Colony.

Many have called for more clarity on the issue.

“It is high-time the government clarify on its policy,” feels J.L.N. Kumar, former president of Visakhapatnam LPG Dealers’ Association. The situation is no different in Vijayawada, where a majority of consumers are forced to pay Rs.1,215 for a cylinder and then face inordinate delays for subsidy reimbursement.

Gas agencies in Krishna district pointed out that there was no mechanism to monitor the transfer of subsidy to consumers’ bank account.

In Guntur, implementing authorities and gas agencies are swamped with customer enquiries on delay of reimbursement.

“Consumers in the unorganised sector, including daily-wagers and private employees, are not in a position to pay Rs.1, 230 per cylinder. Since February 1, the reimbursement has completely stopped,” says CPI district secretary, Muppalla Nageswara Rao.

Gas dealers in Kurnool have maintained that despite the Centre’s decision to de-link Aadhaar and bank accounts, oil company officials continue to pressurise them on the matter.Customers, however, are unhappy.

“We have paid Rs.1,237 a cylinder. But so far, the subsidy amount has not been credited, and authorities here have not come up with a cogent and clear explanation,” says housewife and Kurnool resident Sridevi.

The condition is no different in Kakinada, where Aadhaar-linked services were first launched on a pilot basis. According to data available, 92 per cent LPG connections have been linked to Aadhaar and banks. Despite the high penetration, a large number of complaints on delay in reimbursement continued to pour in during weekly ‘grievance cell’ programmes.

P. Venkateswara Rao, president, A.P State Gas Distributors Association, maintained that the delay in release of subsidy is not the fault of gas agencies.

“It is quite understandable customers are blaming gas agencies for the delay. However, they should realise that the delay is due to lack of clarity from authorities in New Delhi,” he said.

While acknowledging the problems, gas authorities are hoping for a quick resolution. “We are awaiting directives on the issue from New Delhi and are in touch with the Oil Ministry officials. We hope for a quick redressal,” assures State LPG Gas Co-ordinator, Madhukar Ingole.

[With inputs from K.N. Murali Sankar (Kakinada), G.V. R. Subba Rao (Vijayawada), Santosh Patnaik (Visakhapatnam), Gollapudi Srinivas Rao (Warangal), Rajulapudi Srinivas (Guntur), D. Sreenivasulu (Kurnool)]

Keywords: Domestic gas cylinder, Aadhaar card, gas agencies, LPG cylinders, UIDAI, subsidy, DBTL

5230 - As Nandan Nilekani packs up for active politics, there are questions about Aadhaar

As Nandan Nilekani packs up for active politics, there are questions about Aadhaar

Pradyot Lal
Veteran Journalist
Last Updated : 22 Feb 2014 01:56:40 PM IST

As Nandan Nilekani packs up for active politics, there are questions about Aadhaar (File Photo)

Another good man is on the verge of being lost to politics. And as it must be happening with every individual who becomes synonymous with what he is doing, the prospect of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman Nandan Nilekani quitting his job by March end to join mainstream politics and contest the Lok Sabha election on a Congress ticket, has led to a lot of questions.

There are many who may wonder if his absence at the helm would derail the Aadhaar project, vital for slashing India’s subsidy expenditure and increasing the efficacy of welfare programmes.

It was largely Nilekani's model of third-party collection of biometric data which has helped UIDAI to so far issue Aadhaar numbers to 58.7 crore people. The projected target in another year is 90 crore.

Nilekani in all likelihood will contest from the Bangalore South constituency, standing against the BJP’s Ananth Kumar, who has won five Lok Sabha polls consecutively from there. Though a political novice, Nilekani has an impressive track record of a corporate career followed by several years of public service. “ I do not plan to lose” he quipped when he was queried at a news conference.

Over the last five years, Aadhhar has become crucial in many respects.The government relies on it to target oil and fertiliser subsidies better so that the aim of reducing subsidy spending to 1.6 per cent of GDP in three years from 2.2 per cent this fiscal is realised. Also, the outcome of the Centre's welfare spending through flagship schemes on employment, education and health is expected to be enhanced thanks to Aadhaar.

“There are issues like how to improve water supply. Education is a big challenge for children, and jobs also,” Nilekani said of the prospects ahead. Nilekani, 58, has already been running an “Idea for Bangalore” on his official Facebook page, talking about issues such as transportation, infrastructure and environment in the city. He added that the UIDAI is now in a position where anybody can take it forward from this point. 

Nilekani's stint in the government has however not been without trouble. Reports have periodically disclosed how the Aadhaar project faced stiff resistance not just from the Opposition parties but also from senior Congress leaders who resented the growing stature of the IITian in the party.

Besides the ministries of food and home, which had a turf war with the role of the UID authority (Census of India had wanted sole rights to issue biometrics), the finance ministry, which had backed most UIDAI decisions, too rejected its demand to increase its biometric capture mandate from 200 million to all 1.2 billion.

Despite these odds, Aadhaar-based direct benefit transfers have touched close to Rs 2,600 crore in 292 districts of the country.

Nilekani, for all that he achieved, was not able to get the National Identification Authority of India Bill which would have provided statutory status to the UIDAI, which issues Aadhaar numbers to residents. Further, in another setback to the Nilakani-led authority, the government has delinked Aadhaar from disbursal of subsidised LPG cylinders, which can now be purchased without an Aadhaar account. The direct benefits transfer on liquefied petroleum gas (DBTL) was put on hold citing ground-level implementation issues last week.

Under DBT, about 4.86 crore accounts have been made and around 2.06 crore households have received subsidised cylinders.

While the DBT related to ministries of justice and empowerment, human resource development, minority affairs, women and child development, health and family and labour and employment began from January last year, the subsidy on food, fertilisers and petroleum products to the poor by directly transferring cash to their bank accounts using Aadhaar got delayed due to the massive scale and complexity of these major subsidy schemes.

The home ministry questioned the accuracy of the UIDAI data, effectively sending out the message that its own entity that does the census will collect biometrics and its overlap with the National Population Register which has a similar task of collecting data. However, the biggest setback for the UIDAI programme was dealt by the Supreme Court interim ruling saying that Aadhaar was voluntary and its use could not be mandated by any government agency in order to provide services to citizens.

He says that irrespective of the electoral outcome, he chose the political path because a lot of changes are required in the system.

The UIDAI was formed in 2009 and aimed at generating 60 crore Aadhaar accounts by 2014. Nilekani was appointed as chairman in July 2009 with the rank and status of a Cabinet minister for an initial tenure of five years.

“Recently, the government also gave us mandate to go to four more states — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, which have a total population of 33 crore. So we will build a system now which can do 30 crore a year. So I think with the momentum continuing, we are looking at enrolments of up to 90 crore by sometime in 2015,” Nilekani added.

He disclosed that it has not yet been decided by the Election Commission whether Aadhaar cards will be used for voting purposes.

5229 - Govt re-drafts Right to Privacy Bill - Business Standard

Govt re-drafts Right to Privacy Bill

Among key changes, inter-ministerial panel has suggested only Indian residents will have right to privacy

Sounak Mitra  |  New Delhi  February 18, 2014 Last Updated at 20:22 I

   

The Government has redrafted the draft of the much-talked-about Right to Privacy Bill that would be placed before the secretaries of the ministries concerned within a week.

The secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Personnel and Training, has already given approval.

Among the key changes, the inter-ministerial committee has suggested that only Indian residents will have the right to privacy, and restrictions on rights to privacy can only be imposed in accordance with law and to meet the specific objectives, according to a recent discussion.

The key infringements include collection, processing, storage and disclosure of personal data, interception or monitoring of communications sent by or to individual, surveillance of the individual by any means, and sending unsolicited commercial communications to individuals, which includes direct marketing.

The work for the Right to Privacy Bill had begun in 2010 after the Nira Radia tapes were leaked into public domain which raised concern for individual privacy. Post the Radia tapes issue, Ratan Tata, the then chairman of Tata group had moved Supreme Court complaining that his privacy was violated.

In 2011, the Government had formed a committee, headed by former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court AP Shah Shah to suggest legislations for the proposed Right to Privacy Bill. This committee submitted a report in 2012, following which the Bill is being drafted.

However, the draft bill states that the government will have the power to curtail an individual’s right to privacy in matters concerning national security, and sets the legal parameters for surveillance in India and spells out exemptions to take care of national security concerns.

5228 - Editorial: End of Aadhaar? The Financial Express

Editorial: End of Aadhaar?

The Financial Express 

Posted online: Saturday, Feb 22, 2014 at 0000 hrs

Apart from needing visionaries to conceive and then execute them, game-changer projects need careful and powerful steering since, by their very nature, they go against the status quo. In the case of the Aadhaar project, Nandan Nilekani played both roles. Not only did he conceive the technical wizardry of the project—3rd party collection of biometrics to keep costs down with central processing of the data to ensure de-duplication of Aadhaar numbers—he steered it through rough waters. 

On the one hand, there were civil society objections on privacy issues; there was the turf war with the Census of India that wanted sole rights to collecting biometrics. And, above all, there was the powerful political lobby that benefited from massive leakages in the R3 lakh crore that India spends annually on welfare programmes.

Nilekani dealt with privacy objections by pointing to lots of biometrics data lying around even before Aadhaar came on the scene—at the driving licence authorities, at the property department office, even the US embassy visa section. 

Besides, the Aadhaar database was constructed in such a way it had no record other than a set of biometrics attached to a name—user of such biometrics, like a ration shop or a mobile bank, would query the Aadhaar computer on whether the biometrics matched the given name, but the details of the actual transaction would never travel to the Aadhaar database, they would remain where they always did, with the ration shop, with the bank. The home ministry’s objections were taken on board, but Aadhaar was allowed to go ahead with collecting its data. 

And since Aadhaar was never mandatory, Nilekani worked on creating a ‘pull factor’—this was RBI allowing banks to accept Aadhaar as proof of identity, the government allowing mobile phone firms to do the same; over a period of time, software solutions came up based on Aadhaar, for money transfer for instance. 

The government using Aadhaar-based direct benefit transfers for giving R3,370 crore to 2.1 crore LPG consumers in 292 districts was proof of concept, and the fact that 585 million people have unique Aadhaar numbers was proof the 3rd party vendor model of scaling up was working.

Based on this success, it is tempting to think Aadhaar can carry on without Nilekani at the helm any more—he has announced his quitting since he is now fighting the Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket. The fact that, even after its very successful use for LPG in 292 districts, the Cabinet decided to put it on hold suggests the project still needs a championing of the type Nilekani provided—the project was sold to Sonia Gandhi as the ultimate welfare programme, one that could help the Congress government put money directly in the hands of the beneficiaries; it was sold to Manmohan Singh as one that would help cut subsidy expenditures. And both were true. 

Other game-changer projects, such as dematerialisation of shares, have survived even after those that conceived them moved on. But the others didn’t threaten the political gravy train in the manner Aadhaar does.

5227 - Nandan Nilekani to resign from UIDAI by March-end to contest polls from Bangalore - Economic Times

Nandan Nilekani to resign from UIDAI by March-end to contest polls from Bangalore

ET Bureau Feb 22, 2014, 04.30AM IST

NEW DELHI: Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is set to give up his cabinet rank by demitting the office of the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) next month, in order to prepare for his maiden Lok Sabha foray from Bangalore.

"I will be there for a few more weeks. I will be stepping down by end of March," Nilekani told media in the capital, adding that he will contest the polls 'subject to getting the ticket from Bangalore South.'

Nilekani, who has got a green signal for a Lok Sabha seat from the Congress top brass most likely for the Bangalore South constituency, has already begun doing the preparatory work for the poll campaign spending five days a week in Karnataka.

The UID project is the most ambitious programme of UPA-II aimed at issuing unique identity numbers, termed Aadhaar numbers, for 1.2 billion Indians on the basis of their biometric records.

Nilekani had joined the government in 2009 to implement the programme, giving up his cushy corporate life at Infy headquarters to pursue an idea he first enunciated in his book Imagining India.

Aadhaar has been labeled as a 'game changer' by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as the pivot for its direct benefits transfer or DBT schemes, under which subsidies for poor beneficiaries of myriad welfare schemes are directly paid into their bank accounts.

The UIDAI has issued unique 58.3 crore Aadhaar numbers so far and has been recently allowed by the cabinet to immediately begin enrollments in the Hindi heartland states of UP, Bihar, Chhatisgarh and Uttarakhand in order to expedite the rollout of direct benefits transfer regime.

About four crore bank accounts have been linked to Aadhaar numbers, but the Aadhaarbased DBT scheme launched by the government in January 2013, has run into some sharp criticism from the Supreme Court, parliamentary panels and even senior cabinet ministers recently.

At a January 30 meeting, the cabinet committee on political affairs decided to suspend the linkage of Aadhaar for subsidy payments on LPG cylinders, the biggest live application of the Aadhaar-based DBT system.

By the end of 2013, nearly Rs 2,000 crore of subsidy had been transferred to 6.6 crore consumers directly through the scheme. "Aadhaar is a platform for multiple applications. DBT for LPG cylinders is just one of those applications," a senior UIDAI official had toldETat the time. The Supreme Court, which is hearing petitions on the UID project, had earlier ruled that Aadhaar numbers must not be made mandatory for availing any government benefits and schemes.

5226 - Aadhar not mandatory to buy subsidized LPG cylinders: Govt - TNN

Aadhar not mandatory to buy subsidized LPG cylinders: Govt

PTI | Feb 21, 2014, 01.19PM IST

NEW DELHI: Subsidized LPG cylinders can be purchased without having an Aadhaar account, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.

A clarification on delinking Aadhaar account from disbursal of subsidized LPG cylinders would be issued within a week, petroleum and natural gas minister Veerappa Moily said during question hour.

"A clarification will be issued within a week," he said. As far as direct benefit transfer (DBT) is concerned, Cabinet has decided to delink Aadhar account from disbursal of subsidized LPG cylinders. Now, subsidized cylinders can be purchased without Aadhaar account, Moily said.

He said there have been some problems in DBT programme, mainly related to banks, which have been given Rs 435 per cylinder (for subsidy) which is not enough since the subsidized price of one cylinder has increased to Rs 700.

He also emphasized that the government has not increased the price of subsidized cylinders for consumers.

Under DBT, about 4.86 crore accounts have been made and around 2.06 crore households have received subsidized cylinders.

Regarding know your customer (KYC) norms for LPG connections, the minister said the government has already issued clarifications regarding multiple connections and would liberally look into the matter if required.

"If there are two separate LPG connections in the same address, it would be allowed if there are separate kitchens or separate households ... A declaration has to be made (by the consumer)," he added.

5225 - Aadhaar number not must or buying gas cylinders - The Hindu

NEW DELHI, February 21, 2014

Updated: February 22, 2014 03:13 IST

Aadhaar number not must or buying gas cylinders

SANDEEP JOSHI

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M. Veerappa Moily on Friday said people without an Aadhaar number will also be able to buy subsidised cooking gas cylinders since the government has decided to suspend the direct benefit transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme.

“Subsidised cylinders can now be purchased without an Aadhaar account…A clarification will be issued within a week,” Mr. Moily said in Parliament. Apart from raising the annual cap on subsidised gas cylinders from nine to 12 last month, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs had decided to suspend the DBTL scheme till a panel reviewed its implementation.

This decision will provide relief to many consumers who either do not have the Aadhaar number or do not possess a bank account linked to their Aadhaar number. There have been problems in the DBT programme, mainly related to banks, which have been given Rs.435 per cylinder as subsidy. But this is not enough as the subsidised price of one 14.2 kg cylinder has increased to Rs.700, he added.

The Minister also said oil marketing companies have released over 2-crore LPG connections after commencement of de-duplication exercise to eliminate multiple LPG connections in June 2012, while over 3.25-lakh LPG connections have been surrendered by piped natural gas (PNG) users till December 31, 2013. Over 1-lakh multiple connections that have been terminated during the ongoing ‘know your customers’ (KYC) drive as on January 1, 2014.

5224 - Aadhaar loses its unique identity, chairman Nandan Nilekani to quit - Financial Express

Aadhaar loses its unique identity, chairman Nandan Nilekani to quit

fe Bureau | New Delhi | Updated: Feb 22 2014, 07:57 IST

SUMMARY

Nandan Nilekani would resign from his job by March end to join mainstream politics.

UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani said he would resign from his job by March end to join mainstream politics. PTI

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman Nandan Nilekani on Friday said he would resign from his job by March end to join mainstream politics and contest the Lok Sabha election on a Congress ticket, causing many to wonder if his absence at the helm would derail the Aadhaar project, vital for slashing India’s subsidy expenditure and increasing the efficacy of welfare programmes.

Helped by Nilekani's model of third-party collection of biometric data, UIDAI has so far issued Aadhaar numbers to 58.7 crore people and targets to take the tally to 90 crore in another year.

Nilekani is expected to contest elections from the Bangalore South constituency, standing against the BJP’s Ananth Kumar, who has won five Lok Sabha polls consecutively from there. Though a political novice, Nilekani has an impressive track record of a corporate career followed by several years of public service.

“I will be there for a few more weeks. I will be stepping down by end of March,” Nilekani, who also co-founded one of the country's leading software services firm Infosys, told reporters here.

The government relies on Aadhaar-enabled better targeting of oil and fertiliser subsidies to realise the aim of reducing subsidy spending to 1.6% of GDP in three years from 2.2% this fiscal. Also, the outcome of the Centre's welfare spending through flagship schemes on employment, education and health is expected to be enhanced thanks to Aadhaar.

“There are issues like how to improve water supply. Education is a big challenge for children, and jobs also,” Nilekani said of the prospects ahead. Nilekani, 58, has already been running an “Idea for Bangalore” on his official Facebook page, talking about issues such as transportation, infrastructure and environment in the city. He added that the UIDAI is now in a position where anybody can take it forward from this point.

Nilekani's stint in the government has not been without trouble. The Aadhaar project faced stiff resistance not just from the opposition parties but also from senior Congress leaders who resented the growing stature of the IITian in the party. Besides the ministries of food and home, which had a turf war with the role of the UID authority (Census of India had wanted sole rights to issue biometrics), the finance ministry, which had backed most UIDAI decisions, too rejected its demand to increase its biometric capture mandate from 200 million to all 1.2 billion.

Despite these odds, Aadhaar-based direct benefit transfers have touched close to Rs 2,600 crore in 292 districts of the country.

In fact, Nilekani was also unable to pass the National Identification Authority of India Bill to provide statutory status to the UIDAI, which issues Aadhaar numbers to residents. Since 2009, the UIDAI has been functioning under an executive order issued by the government.

In another setback to the Nilakani-led authority, the government has delinked Aadhaar from disbursal of subsidised LPG cylinders, which can now be purchased without an Aadhaar account. The direct benefits transfer on liquefied petroleum gas (DBTL) was put on hold citing ground-level implementation issues last week.

Under DBT, about 4.86 crore accounts have been made and around 2.06 crore households have received subsidised cylinders.

While the DBT related to ministries of justice and empowerment, human resource development, minority affairs, women and child development, health and family and labour and employment began from January last year, the subsidy on food, fertilisers and petroleum products to the poor by directly transferring cash to their bank accounts using Aadhaar got delayed due to the massive scale and complexity of these major subsidy schemes.

The home ministry questioned the accuracy of the UIDAI data, effectively sending out the message that its own entity that does the census will collect biometrics and its overlap with the National Population Register which has a similar task of collecting data. 

However, the biggest setback for the UIDAI programme was dealt by the Supreme Court interim ruling saying that Aadhaar was voluntary and its use could not be mandated by any government agency in order to provide services to citizens.

On a question whether he is taking a big risk by contesting elections, Nilekani, in a lighter vein, said: “In any case, I do not plan to lose. In the worst case, I might lose but risk taking is part of life. The reason I chose the political path was because a lot of changes are required in the system.”

The UIDAI was formed in 2009 and aimed at generating 60 crore Aadhaar accounts by 2014. Nilekani was appointed as chairman in July 2009 with the rank and status of a Cabinet minister for an initial tenure of five years.

“Recently, the government also gave us mandate to go to four more states — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, which have a total population of 33 crore. So we will build a system now which can do 30 crore a year. So I think with the momentum continuing, we are looking at enrolments of up to 90 crore by sometime in 2015,” Nilekani added.. 

He said use of Aadhaar cards for voting purpose will be decided by the Election Commission.

5223 - Nandan Nilekani to resign from Aadhaar panel by March-end - NDTV

Nandan Nilekani to resign from Aadhaar panel by March-end

Election 2014 | Press Trust of India | Updated: February 21, 2014 23:50 IST 

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman Nandan Nilekani today said he will resign from his job by March-end to contest Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket.

Nilekani, whose name is doing the rounds for Bangalore South constituency, however, did not say when he will join the Congress party.

"I will be there for a few more weeks. I will be stepping down by end of March," Nilekani, who also co-founded the country's leading software services firm Infosys, told reporters here.

He added that the UID is now in a position where anybody can take it forward from this point.

When asked about the constituency from where he will be contesting the elections, he said: "Subject to getting the ticket from Bangalore South".

Nilekani also said he has been meeting people in that capital city and issues like public transport, water supply and education would be some of the major priority areas for him during the elections.

"There are issues like how to improve water supply. Education is a big challenge for children and jobs also," he said.

On a question whether he is taking a big risk by contesting elections, Nilekani, in a lighter vein, said: "In any case, I do not plan to lose".

He added that in worst case he might lose but that "risk taking is part of life".

"The reason I chose the political path (was because) a lot of changes are required in the system," he said.

Further on Aadhaar, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman expressed hope that about 90 crore Aadhaar numbers would be issued by 2015.

So far 58.7 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued, he added.

"When UID was formed in 2009, we had set (a target to generate) 60 crore aadhaars by 2014. We are now about 58.7 crore. So we are about 1.3 crore short of the target which will happen in another few weeks.

"Recently, the government also gave us mandate to go to four more states - Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand which has a total population of 33 crore. So we will build a system now which can do 30 crore a year. So I think with the momentum continuing, we are looking at enrolments of upto 90 crore by sometime in 2015," he said.

Nilekani also said that use of Aadhaar cards for voting purpose will be decided by the Election Commission.

5222 - Nilekani to quit UIDAI, may contest from Bangalore South - The Hindu

NEW DELHI, February 21, 2014

Updated: February 22, 2014 03:11 IST

Nilekani to quit UIDAI, may contest from Bangalore South

Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Chairman Nandan Nilekani on Friday said he will quit the organisation by the end of next month to contest Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket.

The co-founder of Infosys, who joined the UIDAI on July 23, 2009 as its Chairman in the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister for a five-year tenure, exuded confidence that the Authority is now in a position where anybody can take its work forward.

"I will be there for a few more weeks. I will be stepping down by end of March," Mr. Nilekani told journalists here. The erstwhile Infosys honcho, who is yet to join the Congress, is likely to get the party ticket from Bangalore South constituency.

Mr. Nilekani said he would contest from Bangalore South seat "subject to getting the ticket". Asked whether he was taking a big risk by contesting elections, Mr. Nilekani, in a lighter vein, said: "In any case I do not plan to lose", but added that in worst case he might lose but that "risk taking is part of life".

"I have been meeting people in that capital city (of Karnataka) and issues like public transport, water supply and education would be some of the major priority areas for him during the elections. There are issues like how to improve water supply...Education is a big challenge for children and jobs also," he said. "The reason I chose political path (was because) a lot of changes are required in the system," he added.

On Aadhaar's progress, Mr. Nilekani said so far 58.7 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued, and hoped that about 90 crore Aadhaar numbers would be issued by 2015. "When UIDAI was formed in 2009, we had set (a target to generate) 60 crore Aadhaars by 2014. We are now about 58.7 crore. So we are about 1.3 crore short of the target which will happen in another few weeks," he said.

"Recently, the government also gave us mandate to go to four more states - Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand -- which has a total population of 33 crore. So we will build a system now which can do 30 crore a year. So I think with the momentum continuing, we are looking at enrolments of up to 90 crore by sometime in 2015," he added.

5221 - Consumers can get LPG cylinders without Aadhaar account: Govt - Hindu Business Line

Consumers can get LPG cylinders without Aadhaar account: Govt

The Hindu

NEW DELHI, FEB 21:  

Subsidised LPG cylinders can be purchased without having an Aadhaar account, the Government informed the Lok Sabha today.

A clarification on delinking Aadhaar account from disbursal of subsidised LPG cylinders would be issued within a week, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily said during Question Hour.

“A clarification will be issued within a week,” he said.

As far as Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) is concerned, Cabinet has decided to delink Aadhar account from disbursal of subsidised LPG cylinders. Now, subsidised cylinders can be purchased without Aadhaar account, Moily said.

He said there have been some problems in DBT programme, mainly related to banks, which have been given Rs. 435 per cylinder (for subsidy) which is not enough since the subsidised price of one cylinder has increased to Rs. 700.

He also emphasised that the Government has not increased the price of subsidised cylinders for consumers.

Under DBT, about 4.86 crore accounts have been made and around 2.06 crore households have received subsidised cylinders.

Regarding Know Your Customer (KYC) norms for LPG connections, the Minister said the Government has already issued clarifications regarding multiple connections and would liberally look into the matter if required.

“If there are two separate LPG connections in the same address, it would be allowed if there are separate kitchens or separate households... A declaration has to be made (by the consumer),” he added.

(This article was published on February 21, 2014)

5220 - Opposition forces withdrawal of fee concession circular - The Hindu

Opposition forces withdrawal of fee concession circular

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The Opposition troops into the well of the House protesting against the government circular, in the Legislative Assembly in Bangalore on Thursday.

It said concessions would be withdrawn if students participate in strikes

Coming under pressure from the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (Secular) in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, the government withdrew its circular seeking to withdraw concessions in fee and scholarships to students from Other Backward Classes and minority communities if they participate in strikes.

BJP members Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri and R. Ashok wanted Minister for Social Welfare H. Anjaneya to withdraw the circular, saying it curtailed the democratic freedom of students. He was joined by other vociferous members of the KRRS and others.

They objected to the statement of Mr. Anjaneya, who said the government’s circular was in consonance with the 1977 order of the Centre. The circular had also stipulated that students should produce Aadhaar card to avail of concessions.

Enraged at the statement, the members trooped into the well of the House, demanding withdrawal of the circular. Mr. Anjaneya’s statement that the government did not intend to curb the freedom and rights of the students fell on deaf ears.

Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa himself stated that he had been Minister for Social Welfare on two occasions in the past and had not heard of the 1977 order of the Centre, and asked Mr. Anjaneya to ‘examine’ it. Congress member K.R. Ramesh Kumar intervened and said no government would agree to the circular curbing the right of students to participate in strikes

5219 - Payments banks will need to build transactions-based models: Nachiket Mor

Payments banks will need to build transactions-based models: Nachiket Mor

An RBI panel led by Mor has recommended a clutch of measures for financial inclusion in the country

Dinesh Unnikrishnan 

Mor says the 2016 goal for universal electronic bank accounts is not based on business as usual and so it is not surprising that there has been debate on the timeline. Photo: SaiSen/Mint

Mumbai: A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) panel led by Nachiket Mor, who sits on the board of the central bank, has recommended a clutch of measures to make financial services accessible to the large number of unbanked people in the country. The suggestions, released by RBI on 7 January, include starting dedicated lenders for poor households and small businesses called payments banks, opening electronic bank accounts for everyone by January 2016 and increasing the mandatory lending by banks to economically weaker sections. Not surprisingly, some of the proposals have been questioned by commercial banks, which say these are neither practical nor sustainable. In an email interview, Mor justified the panel’s recommendations. Edited excerpts:

Banks feel that their priority sector lending (PSL) obligations will shoot up going by the model suggested by your panel.

The committee has not recommended an increase in the PSL target. It has recommended that PSL guidelines should enable more specialization vis-à-vis sectors and regions. A system of weightages has been proposed so that there is an added incentive to lend to certain sectors and regions. The adjusted PSL mechanism, by assigning relative weights, gives leeway to the bank to specialize, while at the same time making it more likely for credit to flow to those sectors and regions that have more pronounced shortfalls in supply of formal credit. Banks currently achieving their 40% PSL target would be in a good position to also meet the adjusted PSL target of 50%.

The panel has mooted a legally protected right to the customer to be offered only suitable financial services. How do banks assess the suitability aspect for every customer?

Banks are already assessing borrowers based on their internal processes for products such as home loans and credit cards. While for some segments of customers there is a lot of verifiable data that is available, for others, primary due diligence will have to be done by the bank. Our recommendation is that all RBI-regulated financial institutions follow a board-approved process in this regard, that will then need to be followed for every product that is offered by the bank. This will ensure that the provider fully understands the products that they are offering, and that it can demonstrate that it has followed the process which establishes suitability of sale.

Isn’t the 2016 target of bank accounts for all a little too ambitious?

The 2016 goal for the UEBA (universal electronic bank account) is not based on business as usual and so it is not surprising that there has been debate on the timeline. It assumes a significant acceleration of the pace of account opening, based on the Aadhaar issuance process, which in any case establishes the KYC (know your customer) details required for account opening. There are already 56 crore Aadhaar (identity) numbers issued. UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) expects that enrolment of the entire eligible population will be completed by December 2015. Our recommendation is that the UEBA be opened automatically at the time of successful Aadhaar enrolment by the UIDAI for an enrolled individual desirous of obtaining a bank account.

Are payments banks a sustainable business model?

There are 26 licensed prepaid instrument providers today who have a viable business model based on leveraging existing distribution networks. So, there is no reason why a payments bank cannot be viable. Rather than rely on a traditional credit spread-based business model, payments banks will need to build transactions-based business models, something that mobile companies and retailers understand very well.