5916 - Direct Benefit Transfer full of Gas - Deccan Chronicle

Direct Benefit Transfer full of gas: Citizens

DC CORRESPONDENT | October 26, 2014, 03.10 am IST

CPM city secretary Ch. Babu Rao airs his views on the drawbacks of the DBT link to LPG cylinders, before reporters in Vijayawada on Saturday. (Photo: DC)

Vijayawada: People are becoming increasingly uneasy over the moves by the Central government to reintroduce the Aadhaar-linked subsidy transfer system for cooking gas supply.

People are questioning the motive behind the present moves to reintroduce the scheme, when the previous UPA government had drawn much flak and was forced to withdraw it.

A large number of people complained that the LPG subsidy amount was not remitted in their bank accounts though they had seeded it with their Aadhaar cards and the LPG agencies.

Lakshmi, a resident of Gandhinagar expressed surprise over Central government’s decision to reintroduce the scheme, though it is proved to be a failed experiment in the past.

Another woman, Pydamma of Vambay Colony said that she had paid Rs 1,320 for a LPG cylinder refill in February 2014, but did not get the subsidy amount in her bank account. She questioned the government’s motive in introducing a scheme that had turned into a burden on the middle-class people.

In addition several others said that they were not getting subsidised LPG though they submitted Aadhaar cards to the dealers. In some cases, the dealer stopped supply of gas on the pretext of absence of Aadhaar seeding.

CPM city secretary Ch. Babu Rao criticised both the Telugu Desam and BJP-led NDA governments for their efforts to introduce the Aadhaar-linked subsidy transfer system for supply of cooking gas, though thousands of people suffered when it was introduced earlier.

He said that the TD had promised to abolish the cash transfer scheme before elections, but was not trying to implement the scheme.

He described the TD’s action as nothing but deceiving the people.

The CPM leader warned that people would teach a lesson to the Central and state governments if they did not withdraw the decision.

5915 - Edu dept devises its own UID, brings school children online - Pune Mirror

Edu dept devises its own UID, brings school children online

By Pallavi Smart, Pune Mirror | Oct 28, 2014, 02.30 AM IST

State school education wing all set to come up with a program that will record every detail of a student throughout school life and make it accessible at the click of a mouse, making paperwork non-existent.

In what will come as a relief to all, detailed records of each student from all schools in Maharashtra will soon be given one unique ID and the information will be accessible at the click of a mouse. The state's school education department is preparing one-of-its-kind software following which there will be no need to fill in applications for any examinations during schooling like board exams and scholarship exams. Nobody will have to submit a caste certificate repeatedly or slog to acquire a school leaving certificate as all of it will be available at a click.

The project, ready for launch by December-end, will make Maharashtra the first state to offer such integrated information. Launched under the guidance of commissioner of education S Chokalingam, the system will have integrated database of over two crore children across the state irrespective of boards, aided or unaided and government or private schools. It will have a column for personal information — which also includes the third sex in the gender column following the Supreme Court ruling, information about schools, academics, fitness, achievements and detentions of each student. Schools will be responsible for uploading the data and while factual information like family details etc will be permanent, categories like fitness records, academic records etc. will have to be updated by schools. National Informatics Centre (NIC) is providing technical support for the software.

"We are going to begin data entry for students from all classes," said Chokalingam. "Over the years, we will have detailed information of the entire school life of each student. Further, we also have plans to include the higher education details as well."

EXHAUSTIVE CATAGORIES

Categories like community, caste will be included as well as complete educational record of a student will be mentioned - starting from changes in schools and comprehensive evaluation by teachers. It will also have a column for achievements to aid government scholarships. Fitness details will include information of each child's height, weight, blood group, disability etc. It will also include information regarding illness to aid medical help scheme for children. The database will be integrated with the Unique Identification Number (UID number) mentioned on the Aadhaar card.

"The financial investment is not major as the software is being developed by NIC. Total cost is expected to be around Rs 50 lakh," added Chokalingam. 

The ambitious project has been welcomed by schools in the city.

Harishchandra Gaikwad, Pune spokesperson for the Maharashtra State Secondary and Higher Secondary School Principals' Association, said, "It is a very positive move. Though at the beginning, data entry will be a huge task, eventually it will become routine. However, my request to the government will be to have limited access to this website considering students' safety. Even in schools, only one trustworthy person should be in charge of the data."

Applauding the process, Jayashree Venkatraman, principal of SNBP international School, said, "Schools already have all this data on paper. This will be of great help to acquire a student's complete data during transfers."

5914 - Locals left in the lurch as Aadhaar centres shut - TNN

Locals left in the lurch as Aadhaar centres shut

B B Nayak, TNN | Oct 28, 2014, 02.25AM IST

Thane: Aggrieved residents are desperately demanding for Aadhaar card enrolment, but in vein, since all registration centres under civic administrative control have been shut, citing poor response. According to Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) sources, below 70% citizens have been enrolled for aadhaar card hitherto, leaving the rest in the lurch. 

A roughly over 6 lakh residents are yet to enroll under Aadhaar network in the city while demand for permanent centres has been doing the rounds, but to no avail. All registration centres earlier located at ward offices and other areas under TMC limits have been closed for over a month now, leading to resentment among the residents that were left out in the drive. 

"We are running from pillar to post to enroll ourselves in the aadhaar system but there's hardly any link to find the centres. Almost all the centres in the city seem to have been shut for a long time. We are clueless about the location of some existing centres where we can register. This is injustice," said Nitesh Kharat, a Naupada resident. 

In the phase-II Aadhaar card registration process TMC limit had enrolled around 14 lakh citizens from around 50 centres with help of 95 machines. The second phase was kicked off after a lay-off period of nearly 4 months from February to May last year and the agencies had been instructed to cover cent percent which remained a distant mirage. 

"The agencies that had been entrusted with the job of enrolling people under the aadhaar scheme have shut their shops where we had provided them the place, citing poor response. We have so far covered 70% population. Government has to take a call on this," said a TMC official. 

5913 - Memo to Modi: Aadhaar will leave us naked before a Frankenstein state - First Post

Memo to Modi: Aadhaar will leave us naked before a Frankenstein state

by R Jagannathan  Oct 28, 2014 20:53 IST

Nandan Nilekani’s Unique ID scheme, Aadhaar, is making a big comeback under Narendra Modi.

Without strong legal safeguards, it is likely to become a Frankenstein, empowering the state at the expense of the citizen.

The unique Aadhaar number, issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India, has been in limbo ever since the Supreme Court made it clear that it cannot be the basis for giving or denying welfare benefits to the poor. In the dying days of the UPA, the Congress party itself chickened out of using Aadhaar for direct benefits transfers (DBT). 

After Modi came to power, it seemed as if the government would bury the scheme and give the home ministry’s National Population Register (NCR) pride of place in issuing citizen ID cards. But Modi, after a presentation from Nilekani himself, appears to have decided that Aadhaar is the way to go.

Modi should hasten slowly in the matter, for Aadhaar is a partly illegal scheme that is collecting citizen’s biometric data without any legislation to protect people from potential misuse. The data collection, outsourced to many private parties, effectively leaves large bits of private data (iris and finger prints, for example) in private hands, even though the idea is to feed the data into a huge centrally-controlled database.

In the past, Aadhaar cards have been issued not only to residents, but trees, chairs and dogs. Even assuming these are minor aberrations, the point is the scope for misuse is very high, since the data primarily passes through private hands – whose antecedents we don’t know anything about and against whom we have no indemnities.

Mr Modi, do not jump into Aadhaar without a strong law to prevent its misuse, and without specifying clearly what the data will be used for and what it will never be used for. Reuters

Mr Modi, do not jump into Aadhaar without a strong law to prevent its misuse, and without specifying clearly what the data will be used for and what it will never be used for. Reuters

The attractions of Aadhaar for a government keen to cut subsidies are obvious. A unique ID will ensure that fake and duplicate names are excluded from the roster of welfare beneficiaries. It will also enable inclusive banking to the poor by giving them an identity that otherwise would not have. Modi’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana uses Aadhaar to open accounts, even though other forms of ID are also acceptable.

The real problem is Aadhaar puts the cart before the horse, and for that very reason it leaves enormous power in the hands of a faceless bureaucracy which can quietly push the scheme without technically flouting the Supreme Court’s instructions on it. 

6tBanks are quietly pushing Aadhaar, and cooking gas agencies care two hoots about what the Supreme Court has said before asking consumers to produce an Aadhaar number. Marriage registrars and schools in some states are demanding Aadhaar as a prerequisite. A citizen caught in this pincer will, more often than not, acquiesce. Where the rubber hits the road, the Supreme Court can do nothing to protect us as it cannot fight the bureaucracy in every state.

As I have written repeatedly, Aadhaar is of questionable legality, and sooner or later a court interested in privacy and individual freedom cannot but strike it down – or at least modify some aspects of it. If Modi is really keen on Aadhaar, he must first legislate stringent laws that will penalise anyone who can ever misuse the data – including, and especially, the government. 

Aadhaar is currently stealing every Indian resident’s most private data (his identity, his biometrics, his fingerprints) and pretending it is doing him a favour.

Any society that values citizen’s rights should be wary of keeping an entire population’s biometric and personal details in huge databases controlled by a faceless bureaucracy. We need only refer to the widespread accessing of mobile call data records by the powerful to know how much misuse is possible.

Aadhaar is being sold as a way to empower the poor who don’t have an identity but need government subsidies to survive. But it is being covertly pushed to the entire population using the coercive power of the bureaucrat’s pen. If bank accounts, provident funds, mutual funds, gas connections, and big financial transactions of citizens are going to need an Aadhaar number, this means the government has forced a unique ID on us indirectly without even legally being entitled to do so.

Also, since private parties have collected my biometrics, who will be held responsible if this data is found in the wrong hands?

And let’s not forget how Aadhaar empowers the state at the expense of the citizen. Once your income-tax numbers, bank accounts, credit card transactions, and asset purchases are linked through a common Aadhaar number, anyone in any part of a coercive tax system can blackmail you if your assets and financial details are leaked. Not only that, when the next big terror attack happens, suddenly the government will have a huge justification to use the data to track potential terrorists. After that, we will be sliding down a slippery slope to lower levels of privacy protection for all citizens.

The Indian will be left naked against a Frankenstein state.

So, Mr Modi, do not jump into Aadhaar without a strong law to prevent its misuse, and without specifying clearly what the data will be used for and what it will never be used for.

5912 - The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has issued 70 crore Aadhaar numbers as on 28th October 2014 - Business Standard

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has issued 70 crore Aadhaar numbers as on 28th October 2014

As on date, nine states including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, have crossed 90 percent Aadhaar coverage, while sixteen states have Aadhaar coverage of over 70 percent. UIDAI is also conducting Aadhaar enrolments in the newly assigned states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh, at a fast pace. These four states with a combined population of about 34 crore, were added earlier this year to UIDAI's mandate by the government. Till date, Aadhaar numbers have been issued to 8.93 crore residents in these states, which is 26% of the target population.

Over 25,000 Aadhaar enrolment kits are operational across the country, including both camp mode and Permanent Enrolment Centres, with a total output of approximately 10 lakh enrolments per day. UIDAI has already geared up its processing capabilities to achieve the targets and has the capacity to process around 15 lakh enrolment packets every day. Enrolments are expected to pick up further once the festival season is over.

In the recent months, Government of India has provided fresh impetus to the UIDAI by linking Aadhaar to various schemes and initiatives, including the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), MGNREGA, Pensions, Scholarships, DBTL, UAN (EPFO), PDS, Passports, Attendance system in government offices etc.

Aadhaar facilitates "anytime, anywhere" online authentication of a resident through universal verification of one's identity based on the demographic and biometric information of an individual, thereby eliminating any chances of duplication or fraud. 

Aadhaar not only provides universal mobility of identity to every resident, but also assists in online booking of tickets and in applying for a passport. It is also a proof of identity (PoI) and a proof of address (PoA) for opening a bank account, as it meets the 'Know Your Customer' (KYC) norms of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Under the recently launched PMJDY, Aadhaar, through its online e-KYC service, proves one's digital identity beyond doubts and uniquely enables an individual to open a bank account instantly, in a paperless manner. Aadhaar is now the world's largest biometric database.

5911 - 70 crore residents have Aadhaar numbers - Economic Times

70 crore residents have Aadhaar numbers

PTI Oct 29, 2014, 04.13AM IST

NEW DELHI: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has issued 70 crore Aadhaar numbers to residents across the country as of now.

Nine states, including Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, have crossed 90 per cent Aadhaar coverage, while 16 states have over 70 per cent coverage, a press statement by UIDAI said.

Aadhaar enrolments in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh are going on at a fast pace.

These four states with a combined population of about 34 crore were added earlier this year to UIDAI's mandate by the government. As on date, Aadhaar numbers have been issued to 8.93 crore residents in these states, which is 26 per cent of the target population.

Over 25,000 Aadhaar enrolment kits are operational across the country as on date, including both camp mode and Permanent Enrolment Centres, with a total output of approximately 10 lakh enrolments per day.

UIDAI has already geared up its processing capabilities to achieve the targets and has the capacity to process around 15 lakh enrolment packets every day. Enrolments are expected to pick up further once the festival season is over.

In the recent months, government has provided fresh impetus to the UIDAI by linking Aadhaar to various schemes and initiatives, including the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), MGNREGS, Pensions, Scholarships, DBTL, UAN (EPFO), PDS, Passports, Attendance system in government offices etc.

Aadhaar facilitates "anytime, anywhere" online authentication of a resident through universal verification of one's identity based on the demographic and biometric information of an individual, eliminating any chances of duplication or fraud.

Aadhaar is now the world's largest biometric database.

5910 - Modi government to link mobile SIM with Aadhaar - India Today

Modi government to link mobile SIM with Aadhaar

IndiaToday.in  New Delhi, October 27, 2014 | UPDATED 15:10 IST

The central goverment is working towards the linking of the mobile SIM with Unique Identification (UID) number or Aadhaar card.

"The prime minister (Narendra Modi) has directed us to link the SIM of the mobiles with the Unique Id. We are working on that issue and I am sure we will be able to resolve issues," said R.S. Sharma, secretary of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology.

"The idea is the mobile should become a very very strong factor in authentication and also a factor for getting information and transaction. If that happens, then it will an enable and empowering tool for the people of India," he said.

Sharma was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event oragnised by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Communications and Information Technology Ministry.

He said the secretary of the department of telecom is having deliberations with various departments to facilitate the work of linking mobile SIM with Aadhaar cards. This project is a part of the Digital India programme.

"The programme that has been envisaged by Digital India will boost more ecommerce in India. We are standing in the cusp of digital revolution," Sharma said.

Speaking about his recent visit to South Korea, Sharma said: "We went to South Korea to promote domestic manufacturing of electronics in the country."

"As you know, the government has come up with a policy that gives a lot of financial incentives - both in terms of taxes and also in terms of investment incentives to establish industry - both for individuals as also for clusters."

"So, we had gone to South Korea to meet with the industry leaders there," Sharma said.

"Specifically, we met LG and Samsung and number of other industrial leaders and we emphasised to them that it will make sense to produce in India not only for domestic market, which is so huge, but also to export from India to other neighbouring countries," he said.

Sharma added that the companies have all formulated groups "which will come here and they will interact with us".

For more news from India Today, follow us on Twitter @indiatoday and on Facebook at facebook.com/IndiaToday

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/modi-government-to-link-mobile-sim-with-aadhaar/1/397734.html

5909 - Government likely to make seeding of mobile SIMs with Aadhaar a must - Economic Times

Government likely to make seeding of mobile SIMs with Aadhaar a must

PTI Oct 29, 2014, 04.17AM IST

NEW DELHI: Government is likely to make it mandatory to link mobile SIM connections with Aadhhar number to weed out ghost users and curb the misuse of mobile phones for any terrorist act, extortion or other offences.

"Government has planned to make it compulsory seeding of mobile SIM cards with Aadhaar to keep a tab on use of mobile phone connection for anti-social act including terrorism and extortion," a source said.

In a recent review of the Aadhaar project, government top brass felt it is appropriate to make the seeding of Aadhaar compulsory for new as well as old mobile phone connection, the sources added.

Earlier, the Home Ministry had raised concerns over the use of Aadhaar number as a single source of identity verification.

However, recently the ministry has supported Aadhaar scheme saying it will facilitate "anytime, anywhere, anyhow" authentication to its beneficiaries.

In a letter to state governments, the Home Ministry said that since one Aadhaar number is allotted only to one person, it allows universal verification of one's identity.

Besides, Aadhaar card also enables the deprived and needy people to access services like banking facilities.

According to the source, the government may go slow on linking SIM cards with Aadhaar numbers as the entire population of the country does not have the unique identification number.

Earlier during the UPA regime, the government's plan to make Aadhaar linked bank account mandatory for getting cooking gas subsidy hit a road block. The implementation of the project was suspended after the apex court's interim order.

The Supreme Court had observed that the government cannot deny any benefit to citizen simply because somebody does not have Aadhaar.

As per experts, the Court's view was appropriate at that time as coverage under the Aadhaar project was low.

At present, the Unique Identification Authority of India ( UIDAI) has issued Aadhaar numbers to over 70 crore residents in the country. It has been mandated to generate Aadhaar numbers of 100 crore residents by December.

Government has set the deadline of June next year for covering the entire population under the Aadhaar project.

Experts feel that once the entire population is covered under the project, it would not be difficult for government to use Aadhaar database for rolling out various social welfare scheme and making country's internal security apparatus more robust.

5908 - Congress welcomes Govt's position on Aadhaar - ANI News

Congress welcomes Govt's position on Aadhaar

   Oct 26, 5:27 pm

New Delhi, Oct.26 (ANI): Expressing his delight to note that the Centre has found the importance of the role played by Aadhaar, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Sunday hoped that the present BJP-led NDA government will show the same approach of using its utility in other schemes and not show political jealousy and narrowness.

"It is good to hear, the great value and the utility of Aadhaar is recognized by this government, although we do believe that it has not being given its full comprehensive play in the joints and operation," Singhvi told ANI here.

"It is still a good thing that it is being used and found to be extremely beneficial for social welfare. I only wish and hope that for lot of other schemes where political jealousy and narrowness has been shown by the present government, the same approach is followed," he added.

The Congress leader further said that what distinguishes the Indian democracy from its neighbouring nations is that the politics of vendetta is not practiced in the country.

"Unlike our Asian neighbours we do not discontinue or criticize policies merely because previous governments have initiated them. Political parties come and go, but the state continues. 

The nature and the concept of government continues, although the political party heading it may change," he said.

The Centre has now deviated from its earlier position on Aadhaar. In this regard, the Union Home Ministry has written a letter to all the state governments and stated that since one Aadhaar number is allotted only to a single individual, it allows universal verification of one's identity.

The Centre also stated that the Aadhaar card also helps the deprived and needy people to access services like banking facilities. (ANI)

5907 - Home Ministry does U-turn on Aadhaar scheme - Deccan Herald

Home Ministry does U-turn on Aadhaar scheme

Says will give full support to project

In a complete reversal of stand, the Union Home Ministry under Rajnath Singh has favoured Aadhaar numbers as they not only “eliminate” fraud and bogus activity but also help identify beneficiaries of government schemes.

The ministry’s change of mind on Aadhaar comes out in identical letters written to states asking them to start enrolment process in jails to enable prisoners to get such identification numbers.

The volte-face on “Aadhaar” comes months after Singh told Deccan Herald in April during election campaign that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would “review” the project if it comes to power at the Centre. The ministry under P Chidambaram and Sushilkumar Shinde had been against “Aadhaar”, preferring the National Population Register (NPR).

The BJP had been critical of the United Progressive Alliance’s Aadhaar scheme . A Parliamentary Standing Committee, then headed by BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, had found fault with its duplication with NPR exercise and security concerns arising out of its enrolment process.

In the letter, three out of the five paragraphs sing paeans of the scheme while just mentioning NPR, which was once the pet project of home ministers, including Singh. Singh had earlier set a three-year deadline to identify genuine Indian citizens through the NPR.

While acknowledging NPR is also a national identity programme run by the government, the letter said the benefits of Aadhaar are many.

“Aadhaar can be used at multiple places to prove one’s identity very easily,” it said. The number can be used while opening a bank account as it meets the “Know Your Customer” norms as well as booking tickets online or applying for passport as it serves as identification.

Since one Aadhaar number is allotted to only one person, the letter said, it helps to verify one’s identity and it “eliminates the threat of any fraud and bogus activity”.

“Aadhaar will provide its possessor with universal identification. Aadhaar will facilitate ‘anytime, anywhere, anyhow’ authentication to its beneficiaries. Aadhaar will be a single source of identity verification,” it said.

Giving more details of how Aadhaar can be beneficial, the letter said it will give migrants universal mobility of identity and the government can now provide services and facilities to people, especially in the rural areas, in a “more effective manner.”

The letter also betrayed the National Democratic Alliance government’s change in stand on Aadhaar as it said that more and more government services are going to be linked to Aadhaar.

“It would be of utility to have an Aadhaar card,” the ministry said. However, the ministry had earlier suspected the efficacy of Aadhaar. Uniqueness of identity was not a necessary condition for ensuring authenticity of identity or records of Aadhaar numbers.

5906 - Column: Aadhaar must for DBT in LPG - Financial Express

Column: Aadhaar must for DBT in LPG

Sumita Kale | Published: Oct 27 2014, 01:24 IST

SUMMARY

Going beyond the subsidy payments, Aadhaar will help in de-duplication and better targeting

As the government gets on with clearing the backlog of unfinished work, it has now announced the Modified Direct Benefits Plan for LPG (DBTL). This is a programme that is crucial to rationalising our subsidy bill but has been stuck in a limbo since March this year. The DBTL scheme was rolled out last year for more transparency and preventing diversion of subsidised cylinders for commercial use. There are strong fiscal reasons behind the compulsion of direct transfers; the LPG subsidy rose from R14,257 crore in FY10 to R46,458 crore in FY14. As consumers do not pay the market price, there is currently little awareness about the amount the government pays for each cylinder; the programme therefore sought to make consumers pay the market price for the cylinder and receive the subsidy in an Aadhaar-linked bank account.

By linking Aadhaar to the bank account, the issue of misuse of benefits was also to be addressed. DBTL aimed at covering 291 districts from June 2013 in six phases, targeting 10 crore consumers with more than 3,700 distributors across the three PSU companies. It was an ambitious plan, and got off to a good start in some districts where the Aadhaar enrolment was substantial; however, other places reported severe problems when lack of coordination and communication between the various agencies involved made for confused dealers and consumers. The key issues hinged around the issuance of Aadhaar and poor coordination between the multiple players in the chain.

Even as the government was floundering on fixing the issues, the entire programme, ground to a halt in January with rising complaints. A committee was set up in March under the chairmanship of Prof S G Dhande to review the performance of the programme and in the meantime the Supreme Court stayed the mandatory use of Aadhaar for receiving benefits from the government. The committee submitted its report at the end of May, and now the present government has got its act together, pushing ahead with the DBT for LPG scheme in 54 districts with some important changes; the scheme will roll out across the country over the following months. Given the legal issues and low enrolment of Aadhaar in many districts, the beneficiaries are now expected to submit either an Aadhaar-linked bank account to receive the subsidy or any bank account.

The Modified DBTL is a good move as the programme gets up and running again. With learning from the past rollout, there should be a smoother process this time round. However, there are still some issues to be straightened out. The government has to make that massive outreach to LPG consumers and dealers to inform them of the new process of receiving the benefit. Processes should be streamlined and the consumer grievance redressal cell that is to be a part of this programme now must be efficient and transparent. With no details yet on the proposed revamp of the cell, posting all grievances and their redressal online will improve confidence in the entire system. There is a lot to be done; the problem of diversion of cylinders for commercial use will still need significant monitoring and supervision by the companies and the government.

The question that is probably on top of most people’s minds is, if bank accounts work just as well, does the system of DBTL really need Aadhaar? True, if the aim is just to give the subsidy directly to the consumer, then yes, Aadhaar is not really needed, a bank account is enough. Yet, DBTL has to look beyond just the payment. For instance, de-duplication of accounts. The Dhande Committee has reported that under DBTL last year, 6.18 lakh duplicate connections were identified out of more than 40 million LPG consumers who provided their Aadhaar numbers, and this is where the Aadhaar link will be of real value. More importantly, if there is any intent in the future of moving towards more targeted subsidy, e.g., higher caps in number of subsidised cylinders or higher payouts for BPL population, here again Aadhaar will play a crucial role.

The revamped DBTL programme will take time to settle, and though there may be several glitches, it will prove its worth over time, even to its sceptics.

The author is with Indicus Centre for Financial Inclusion

5905 - 1,000 prisoners enrol for Aadhaar -

BANGALORE, October 26, 2014

Updated: October 26, 2014 23:17 IST

1,000 prisoners enrol for Aadhaar

Over 1,000 prisoners from the Bangalore Central Prison in Parappana Agrahara have enrolled for Aadhaar cards.

The prison authorities coordinated with the Unique Identification Authority of India to set up a kiosk inside the prison to enrol undertrials and convicts.

“Aadhaar card has become an important requisite for various purposes. The process to enrol the remaining 3,000 prisoners is on,” said Jayasimha, Deputy Inspector General of Prisons.

As part of the process, the prison staff have to provide the residential address of the inmates from the police and prison records. This rules out the possibility of discrepancies since police officials would have examined the residential address personally, he said.

He said that the card would not only act as an identity proof, but also help the inmates avail benefits they are entitled to once they are released from prison.

Tracing tool

Citing an example, Mr. Jayasimha said since Aadhaar has become mandatory, the inmates could use them to avail themselves of a loan or employment.

Additional Director-General of Police (Prison) K.V. Gagandeep said the Aadhaar scheme would soon be extended to other prisons across the State. Apart from making prisoners feel part of society, the cards will also serve as a tracing mechanism for the police if prisoners go back to a life of crime after they are released, he said.

5904 - Aadhaar not a worry says Union Home ministry - Deccan Chronicle

Aadhaar not a worry says Union Home ministry - Deccan Chronicle

DC CORRESPONDENT | October 27, 2014, 03.10 am IST

Aadhaar will provide its possessor with universal identification. (It) will facilitate ‘anytime, anywhere, anyhow’ authentication to its beneficiaries (and) be a single source of identity verification.

New Delhi: An Aadhaar number will now be sufficient for the universal identification of the citizen’s identity and can be used to access services like banking facilities.

Clearing the air over the authenticity of the Aadhar number allotted to citizens, the home ministry has said that it can facilitate “anytime, anywhere, anyhow” authentication to its beneficiaries.

Coming out in full support of the Aadhaar scheme, the home ministry has said that since one Aadhaar number is allotted to only one person, it allows universal verification of one’s identity even as it will enable the deprived and needy people to access services like banking facilities.

“Since Aadhaar is based on the demographic and biometric information of an individual, it eliminates the threat of any fraud and bogus activity.

“Aadhaar will provide its possessor with universal identification. (It) will facilitate ‘anytime, anywhere, anyhow’ authentication to its beneficiaries (and) be a single source of identity verification,” the MHA has said in its latest letter to all state governments.

The home ministry’s move has come after the UPA government’s dilly-dallying on the issue. It may be recalled that the home ministry under the UPA regime during the tenures of Sushilkumar Shinde and P. Chidambaram had raised concerns over the sanctity of the Unique Identification Authority of India’s database.

The Union home ministry had raised concerns over supporting documents submitted by people as proof of identity and proof of address for getting an Aadhaar number.

Now, in a complete change of stand, in its latest letter to states, the home ministry has made it clear that the Aadhar number can be used at multiple places to prove one’s identity very easily even as it feels that there are multifold benefits of having an Aadhaar number.

“Aadhaar will give migrants universal mobility of identity. The government can now provide services and facilities to people, especially in the rural areas, in a more effective manner.

“As more and more government services are going to be linked to Aadhaar, it would be of utility to have an Aadhaar card. Aadhaar will hence help the poor to take the benefits or the facilities provided  to them by the government which could not be accessed by (them) earlier. Aadhaar will thus become the simplest way of proving one’s identity,” the ministry said.

A person’s Aadhaar number can be used while opening a bank account as it meets the “Know Your Customer” norms of the RBI.

The card can also be used for booking tickets online, applying for passport and at many other places where there is a need to provide some proof of identity.

Notably, the Aadhaar and the National Population Register are national identity programmes of the Central government. The Aadhar scheme is being implemented by the UIDAI.

The NPR is prepared by the Registrar General of India under the home ministry.

“Both collect biometric data covering 10 finger prints, iris scan of both eyes and a photograph. The identity and address of the resident are also identified during the enrolment process.
“Aadhaar provides a unique identity number to every resident in the country. The NPR database is sent to the UIDAI for Aadhaar de-duplication and generating Unique Identity numbers,” the home ministry said.
  

5903 - In U-turn, MHA bats for Aadhaar - The Hindu

NEW DELHI, October 27, 2014

Updated: October 28, 2014 19:19 IST

In U-turn, MHA bats for Aadhaar

‘It will enable anytime, anywhere authentication of beneficiaries’

In a U-turn, the Union Home Ministry has come out in full support of the Aadhaar scheme, saying it will facilitate “anytime, anywhere, anyhow” authentication of beneficiaries.

In a letter to the States, the Ministry said that every person got only one Aadhaar number, universal verification of identity was made possible. The Aadhaar number enabled the deprived and the needy to access services such as banking.

“Since Aadhaar is based on the demographic and biometric information of an individual, it eliminates the threat of any fraud and bogus activity.

“Aadhaar will provide its possessor with universal identification. [It] will facilitate ‘anytime, anywhere, anyhow’ authentication to its beneficiaries [and] be a single source of identity verification,” the letter said.

The Ministry’s stand on Aadhaar is a complete reversal of the position taken by it under two predecessors of Rajnath Singh — Sushilkumar Shinde and P. Chidambaram.

During the previous UPA regime, the Home Ministry had raised concerns over the sanctity of the Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) database, saying uniqueness of identity was not a necessary condition for ensuring authenticity of identity or genuineness of other entries or records of Aadhaar numbers.

The Ministry had raised concerns over the supporting documents submitted by people as proof of identity and proof of address for getting an Aadhaar number.

In its latest letter to the State governments, the Home Ministry said the benefits of Aadhaar were many and it could be used at multiple places to prove one’s identity very easily.

Aadhaar number could be used while opening a bank account as it met the ‘Know Your Customer’ norms of the RBI. The card could also be used for booking tickets online, applying for passport. “Aadhaar will give migrants universal mobility of identity. The government can now provide services and facilities to people, especially in rural areas, in a more effective manner.”

“As more and more government services are going to be linked to Aadhaar, it would be of utility to have an Aadhaar card. The poor can get the benefits or facilities provided by the government which could not be accessed by [them] earlier,” the Ministry said.

Aadhaar and the National Population Register (NPR) are national identity programmes of the Government of India. The former is being implemented by the UIDAI and the latter by the Registrar-General of India under the Home Ministry.

“Both collect biometric data covering 10 finger prints, iris scan of both eyes and a photograph. The identity and address of the resident are also identified during the enrolment process.” 

“Aadhaar provides a unique identity number to every resident in the country. The NPR database is sent to the UIDAI for Aadhaar de-duplication and generating Unique Identity [UID] numbers,” the Ministry said.

Keywords: Union Home Ministry, Aadhaar scheme, National Population Register, UIDAI number, UID number

5902 - MHA does a U-turn on Aadhar Scheme, lends full support

MHA does a U-turn on Aadhar Scheme, lends full support 

Aadhar Card.

Press Trust of India | New Delhi | Posted: October 26, 2014 10:33 am | Updated: October 26, 2014 3:54 pm

In a complete U-turn from its earlier stand, the Home Ministry has come out in full support of the Aadhaar scheme saying it will facilitate “anytime, anywhere, anyhow” authentication to its beneficiaries.

In a letter to all state governments, the Home Ministry said that since one Aadhaar number is allotted only to one person, it allows universal verification of one’s identity. Aadhaar card also enables the deprived and needy people to access services like banking facilities.

“Since Aadhaar is based on the demographic and biometric information of an individual, it eliminates the threat of any fraud and bogus activity.

“Aadhaar will provide its possessor with universal identification. (It) will facilitate ‘anytime, anywhere, anyhow’ authentication to its beneficiaries (and) be a single source of identity verification,” it said.

The ministry’s stand on Aadhaar is in complete reversal of the position taken by it under two predecessors of Rajnath Singh — Sushilkumar Shinde and P Chidambaram.

During the previous UPA regime, the Home Ministry had raised concerns over the sanctity of the the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)’s database, saying uniqueness of identity was not a necessary condition for ensuring authenticity of identity or genuineness of other entries or records of Aadhaar numbers.

The ministry had raised concerns over supporting documents submitted by people as proof of identity and proof of address for getting an Aadhaar number.

In its latest letter to the state governments, the Home Ministry said that the benefits of Aadhaar are many and it can be used at multiple places to prove one’s identity very easily.

A person’s Aadhaar number can be used while opening a bank account as it meets the ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) norms of RBI. The card can also be used for booking tickets online, applying for passport and at many other places where there is a need to provide some proof of identity.

“Aadhaar will give migrants universal mobility of identity. The government can now provide services and facilities to people, especially in the rural areas, in a more effective manner.

“As more and more government services are going to be linked to Aadhaar, it would be of utility to have an Aadhaar card. 

Aadhaar will hence help the poor to take the benefits or the facilities provided to them by the government which could not be accessed by (them) earlier. Aadhaar will thus become the simplest way of proving one’s identity,” the ministry said.

Aadhaar and the National Population Register (NPR) are national identity programmes of the government of India. The former is being implemented by UIDAI and the latter by the Registrar General of India under the Home Ministry.

“Both collect biometric data covering 10 finger prints, iris scan of both eyes and a photograph. The identity and address of the resident are also identified during the enrolment process.

“Aadhaar provides a unique identity number to every resident in the country. The NPR database is sent to the UIDAI for Aadhaar de-duplication and generating Unique Identity (UID) numbers,” the Home Ministry said. The Home Ministry’s letter also said that since a correctional home has a number of inmates who might have missed the enrolment process, it would be of immense utility to offer this service to them as a welfare measure when they are released. Tihar Jail in New Delhi has also started an enrolment process and received a good response. The enrolment process is entirely voluntary and there is no compulsion involved as in ‘The Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920′. 

Moreover, the data collected by UIDAI is not meant for use by the correctional home and is only for the provision of an Aadhaar card to enable the re-integration of the UTP or convict upon release. Necessary documentation to aid the enrolment process may be facilitated by correctional home authorities. “It is hence suggested that the local UIDAI authorities should be approached for initiating the enrolment drive in all correctional homes and the prisoners should be briefed adequately as to the benefits of obtaining an Aadhaar card before the start of the drive to remove any misgivings about the process,” the Home Ministry said. 

UIDAI was established in 2009 with a mandate to generate  and assign UID numbers to residents of India. Under the UID scheme, enrolment is done by registrars through enrolment agencies, and the government provides outcome-based financial assistance to them. More than 67.38 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated so far by the UIDAI since August 2010, when the first such card was generated. The total expenditure incurred by UIDAI since its inception is Rs 4,906 crore (as on August 31, 2014). 

5901 - Why DBT in LPG is a must - Financial Express

Why DBT in LPG is a must

| Updated: Oct 25 2014, 02:01 IST

SUMMARY

While the government has decontrolled the price of diesel, the next critical reform would be to bring down under-recovery in domestic LPG.

While the government has decontrolled the price of diesel, the next critical reform would be to bring down under-recovery in domestic LPG. In FY14, under-recovery from LPG was over R46,000 crore, which rose 4.5 times from that in FY06. The gap between production and consumption is widening and India has to import LPG to meet its rising domestic demand.

Click here for graph

The government’s decision to re-introduce direct benefit transfer (DBT) for LPG in 54 districts from mid-November, which was put on hold by the UPA government in January ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, is a positive move. The government has announced that the subsidy per cylinder will be now fixed and even people not having Aadhaar numbers can have the subsidy transferred to their bank accounts. This will reduce leakages and subsidies can be targeted at the poor.

There is unequal distribution of subsidies across rural households, as the proportion of subsidies that go to the poorest quintile is just 0.07% as compared to 52.6% for the richest quintile, according to the Kirit Parikh report on pricing of diesel, LPG and kerosene. In urban areas, the report says, though the proportion of subsidies that goes to the poor is still low at 8.2%, there is a more equitable distribution across other quintiles. In the past one year, some weeding out of fake LPG consumers has already taken place. So, with direct transfer of cash to bank accounts of LPG consumers, the government is expected to save nearly R10,000 crore.

Under the modified DBT scheme, all LPG consumers, who had already joined the scheme based on Aadhaar numbers, will start getting subsidy in their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. The LPG consumers will get a grace period of three months during which those who have joined the scheme will get subsidy in bank accounts and others will continue to get cylinders at subsidised price.

5900 - No plan to curtail supply of subsidised LPG cylinders: - Economic Times

No plan to curtail supply of subsidised LPG cylinders: Dharmendra Pradhan

PTI Oct 24, 2014, 03.32PM IST

NEW DELHI: The government has no plans to curtail supply of subsidised cooking gas (LPG) from current 12 cylinders per household in a year even as it looks to give cash subsidy to consumers across the country by June.

"There is absolutely no proposal to reduce subsidised LPG quota (per household)," Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told PTI in an interview here.

In August, the Narendra Modi-led government gave consumers the freedom to avail their quota of 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg weight at subsidised rate during anytime of the year against the previous restriction of one per month.

Pradhan said the Cabinet had on Saturday modified the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme for LPG to provide for cash subsidy equivalent to the difference between the current rate and the market price, in bank accounts of each consumer.

But unlike the scheme launched during the previous UPA government, having an Aadhaar card for getting the cash subsidy is not mandatory, he said.

Currently, the modified DBTL is being launched in 54 districts and from January 1 it will be rolled out in all the remaining districts of the country, he said.

"We hope to extend the coverage to all the districts in three months and enroll majority of the consumers in another three months. So you can say by June, majority of the LPG consumers will be covered," he said.

LPG consumers who have opened accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana too would benefit from the revised scheme. Over 6 crore such accounts have been opened so far and 4 crore more are being targetted by the year end to provide for at least one bank account per household.

Currently, bank accounts of LPG consumers are being seeded with their cooking gas numbers. Once that is done, cash subsidy will be transfered into the bank accounts so that the consumers can buy the LPG refills at market rates.

Presently, 12 cylinders are available to consumers at a subsidised rate of Rs 414 each in Delhi. Any requirement beyond this will have to be purchased at market price of Rs 880 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the Modi government stands for protecting the interests of poor and at the same time it will ease conditions for doing business in the country.

"Reforms and being pro-poor are not oxymorons. Being pro-poor does not mean that reforms will stop. Both the things can go together," he said.

The previous UPA government had linked DBT for LPG to the Aadhaar platform. But there were some legal issues, including some court orders, that prevented implementation of the scheme.

So, the new government has decided that in addition to the Aadhaar platform, all those who have a bank account will also get the LPG subsidy in their accounts directly.

He said the scheme will be implemented in a mission mode. There will be no consumer who will be denied LPG for want of Aadhaar number.

Pradhan said the government is working on fixing the amount of subsidy to be given under DBTL.

5899 - Permanent Aadhar Centres to Give Easy Access to Applicants - New Indian Express

Permanent Aadhar Centres to Give Easy Access to Applicants

By Express News Service

Published: 25th October 2014 06:04 AM

Last Updated: 25th October 2014 06:04 AMCHENNAI: The 

Aadhaar card outlets functioning out of the Chennai Corporation’s zonal offices, will continue to operate that way as the Directorate of Census Operations has decided to give them permanent status.

The nodal agency, which processes Aadhaar applications in the State, is also contemplating setting up permanent Aadhaar centres in unit offices, although a final decision is yet to be taken on how many unit offices will be included in this plan.

Speaking to Express, a revenue official attached to the Chennai Corporation said that discussions were underway to determine how many unit offices will be awarded this facility.

“There is no change to the way zonal offices process applications. Aadhaar outlets at these places will now be afforded permanent status,” the official said.

“The basic idea behind setting up these centres in unit offices is its ease of access. To start with, the facility could be set up in one or two unit offices on a pilot basis,” the official added.

Zonal officials told Express that there will be no change to the way Aadhaar application is processed. “As always, applicants can approach the zonal office. They will be intimated of an appointment date via SMS for registration of their biometric data,” an official said.

However, a few zonal officials said that the Directorate of Census Operations was yet to provide them mobile units, which was affecting faster coverage.

“Without facilities such as mobile units and privileges such as VIP coverage, processing of applications take a long time. There is no channel to fast track applications of those in urgent need,” an official said.

5898 - No plan to curtail supply of subsidised LPG cylinders: - Economic Times

No plan to curtail supply of subsidised LPG cylinders: Dharmendra Pradhan

PTI Oct 24, 2014, 03.32PM IST

NEW DELHI: The government has no plans to curtail supply of subsidised cooking gas (LPG) from current 12 cylinders per household in a year even as it looks to give cash subsidy to consumers across the country by June.

"There is absolutely no proposal to reduce subsidised LPG quota (per household)," Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told PTI in an interview here.

In August, the Narendra Modi-led government gave consumers the freedom to avail their quota of 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg weight at subsidised rate during anytime of the year against the previous restriction of one per month.

Pradhan said the Cabinet had on Saturday modified the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme for LPG to provide for cash subsidy equivalent to the difference between the current rate and the market price, in bank accounts of each consumer.

But unlike the scheme launched during the previous UPA government, having an Aadhaar card for getting the cash subsidy is not mandatory, he said.

Currently, the modified DBTL is being launched in 54 districts and from January 1 it will be rolled out in all the remaining districts of the country, he said.

"We hope to extend the coverage to all the districts in three months and enroll majority of the consumers in another three months. So you can say by June, majority of the LPG consumers will be covered," he said.

LPG consumers who have opened accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana too would benefit from the revised scheme. Over 6 crore such accounts have been opened so far and 4 crore more are being targetted by the year end to provide for at least one bank account per household.

Currently, bank accounts of LPG consumers are being seeded with their cooking gas numbers. Once that is done, cash subsidy will be transfered into the bank accounts so that the consumers can buy the LPG refills at market rates.

Presently, 12 cylinders are available to consumers at a subsidised rate of Rs 414 each in Delhi. Any requirement beyond this will have to be purchased at market price of Rs 880 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the Modi government stands for protecting the interests of poor and at the same time it will ease conditions for doing business in the country.

"Reforms and being pro-poor are not oxymorons. Being pro-poor does not mean that reforms will stop. Both the things can go together," he said.

The previous UPA government had linked DBT for LPG to the Aadhaar platform. But there were some legal issues, including some court orders, that prevented implementation of the scheme.

5897 - 450 permanent Aadhaar centres to come up in TN - TNN

450 permanent Aadhaar centres to come up in TN

TNN | Oct 24, 2014, 06.37AM IST

CHENNAI: If you have missed getting an Aadhaar card, here is another opportunity to enrol yourself. The Census department will set up 450 permanent enrolment centres in taluks, municipalities and corporations by November 15. In Chennai, 15 zonal offices and 35 unit offices will get the centres. 

The delay in covering the entire population has caused some hiccups in the state machinery as the government would have to rely on the biometric database for its proposed smart ration cards. The cards presently in circulation were issued in 2005 and their validity extended with additional sheets since 2010. Civil supplies department sources said the database being used for printing cards and for effecting changes in the number of members in a family and addresses was outdated. 

While the Aadhaar drive began with much fanfare in 2011, 26.11% of the 6.74 crore eligible population are yet to be covered. "From January 1 onwards, the permanent centres will take care of those left out. We are holding talks with the state government to offer space for these centres," Directorate of Census Operations (Tamil Nadu and Puducherry) joint director R V Krishna Rao said. These permanent centres will have private operators to capture photographs, iris images and ten finger prints. 

5896 - PMO to review cash transfer for gas subsidy - Business Standard

PMO to review cash transfer for gas subsidy

Govt expects to save Rs 10,000 crore through this move

Vrishti Beniwal  &  Surabhi Agarwal  |  New Delhi  October 22, 2014 Last Updated at 00:50 IST

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has called a meeting on Wednesday to discuss re-launching cash transfers for the cooking gas subsidy.

"The PMO will take a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the roll-out of direct benefit transfer for LPG (liquefied petroleum gas)," a finance ministry official told Business Standard on condition of anonymity.

The meeting is likely to work out a strategy to reach cash into individual bank accounts. Over 62 million new bank accounts have been opened under the Jan Dhan scheme in the last two months. Representatives from the department of financial services, Unique Identification Authority of India, National Population Register, National Payments Corporation of India and ministry of petroleum, along with partner banks, will be present at the meeting.

The Cabinet on Saturday announced that cash transfers for cooking gas, put on hold by the previous United Progressive Alliance government because of patchy implementation, would be re-started in November in 54 districts with high enrolment for Aadhaar, a biometric identification system. It will be rolled out nationwide from next January. The National Democratic Alliance government is expecting to save Rs 10,000 crore through cash transfer of the cooking gas subsidy.

"The operative part of the project will be discussed," said another government official.

Cooking gas consumers who do not have bank accounts will continue to get cylinders at the subsidised price for three months. Those who do not join the scheme after three months will get a further three months to sign up. During this period, they will be supplied gas cylinders at the market price, but the subsidy will be credited into their bank accounts as soon as they join the scheme.

The Cabinet, after approving the modified scheme, had said it would not put consumers through the hardship they faced in the earlier attempt to get cash transfers going. Before being shelved, cash transfers for cooking gas were working in 290 districts and Rs 5,000 crore had been deposited into Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.

The cooking gas subsidy made up 90-95 per cent of all cash transfers the government attempted for welfare delivery. Launched in January 2013, cash was to be directly debited for scholarships, pensions, maternity benefits, wages for assured job schemes, and housing and employment doles.

5895 - CPI protest - The Hindu

KADAPA, October 20, 2014

Updated: October 20, 2014 22:46 IST

CPI protest

The Communist Party of India (CPI) activists staged a demonstration at the Collectorate on Monday, seeking restoration of the cancelled old age, widow and physically challenged pensions to the eligible beneficiaries. 

Though the State government had enhanced the pension amount from Rs. 200 to Rs. 1,000, it cancelled the benefits to nearly 30 to 40 per cent of the beneficiaries on the pretext of Aadhaar seeding, variation in age in Aadhaar card and ration card and other issues, CPI district secretary G. Eswaraiah said. 

He demanded that pensions and provision of social security be sanctioned again to the eligible, without linking it to the ‘Janmabhoomi-Maa Vooru programme’.

5894 - Making Aadhaar Compulsory Is Unconstitutional And Contempt Of Court

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Making Aadhaar Compulsory Is Unconstitutional And Contempt Of Court

Aadhaar initiative was introduced as an optional and enabling technology. With the passage of time, Indian government has made Aadhaar not only compulsory but also an intrusive, privacy violating and mass surveillance instrument. Surprisingly, none of the e-surveillance projects of India have any sort of parliamentary oversight. Aadhaar is also suffering from various vices and constitutional infirmities. This was the reason that the Supreme Court of India declared that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory (Pdf) for availing services in India.

Aadhaar is also suffering from many other infirmities. For instance, there is no privacy law in India and data protection law in India (pdf) as on date. Aadhaar has also failed to address the concerns of data security, cyber security (PDF) and civil liberties in India. The intelligence agencies of India are operating without any parliamentary oversight and they need urgent reforms in these circumstances.

It is not the case that Indian government is not aware of these issues and circumstances. However, Indian government prefers to keep the things in a state of anarchy and chaos by citing national security and welfare schemes. The truth is that both the concepts of national security and welfare schemes are baseless in India when it comes to blatant violation of civil liberties of Indians.

The only solace is the fact that these issues are presently pending before the Indian Supreme Court to be adjudicated upon. The Supreme Court has already issues interim orders prohibiting the state governments and central government from discriminating on the ground of non availability of Aadhaar number. However, till now these directions have been openly violated by Indian government and various state governments.

This is also a hint of confrontation between the executive and judiciary that is solely provoked by the executive in an illegal and unconstitutional manner. There is little hope that the proposed law in this regard may be enacted very soon, if at all. The only option left in these circumstances is that the Supreme Court of India must declare Aadhaar project illegal and unconstitutional and scrap the same in the larger interest of India.

Posted by Priyanka Sharma at 9:16 PM 

5893 - Aadhaar linked universal health cover under NHAM

Aadhaar linked universal health cover under NHAM

By PTI |

20th October 2014

Aadhaar would help in keeping a check on any fraudulent insurance claims or ghost beneficiaries

New Delhi, October 20: Government is planning to link the universal health assurance scheme for providing medical treatment to all citizens with Aadhaar number to check ghost beneficiaries and fraudulent claims. Under its flagship National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM) which will be launched shortly, government has planned to cover the entire population.

 "The government has planned to seed Aadhaar numbers with its universal health programme NHAM. The experts think that this would help in keeping a check on any fraudulent insurance claims or ghost beneficiaries under the scheme," a source privy to the development said. As per experts, since Aadhaar provides proof of identity of person based on biometrics details including iris scan and finger prints, there will be remote chance of fraudulent insurance claims after seeding the unique identification number with the scheme. According to the source, the idea of seeding Aadhaar numbers with the universal health coverage for all citizens in India is likely to be approved as government wants to launch a fool proof insurance cover. The highlights of the proposed NHAM include 50 essential drugs with a package of diagnostics and about 30 AYUSH drugs to be made available to all citizens at government hospitals and health centres across the country. A package of preventive and positive health information will also be made available to all citizens and the health insurance will be a built-in feature of the mission. As per media reports, the government now wants to provide Aadhaar number to all prisoners. Besides there are plans to use Aadhaar for direct transfer of various benefits including fuel and food subsidies into the beneficiaries' bank accounts. Under Aadhaar projects, around 69.54 crore unique identification numbers have been issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Government has approved the Phase-V of Aadhaar project which allows it to enrol residents in four more densely populated states comprising Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh, having population of around 40 crore. Now the government wants UIDAI to generate Aadhaar numbers for the entire population by June next year. 

- See more at: http://www.igovernment.in/news/1000299/aadhaar-linked-universal-health-cover-nham#sthash.9GdvNjZF.dpuf

5892 - India to use Aadhaar to provide universal healthcare

India to use Aadhaar to provide universal healthcare

By Rawlson King

October 20, 2014 - 

The Indian government plans to use its national Aadhaar biometric database to deploy its newly proposed universal healthcare program.

As part of the new national government’s manifesto, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised radical reforms in healthcare with the introduction of the “National Health Assurance Mission” (NHAM) scheme. The new program’s goal is to provide accessible and affordable healthcare to every Indian citizen.

In order to achieve this goal, the Indian government intends to use Aadhaar as means of identification for healthcare insurance beneficiaries. The new government decided to extend the use of the system to other social programs and to make Aadhaar the primary national identity scheme after extensive review.

A government source recently told the Economics Times newspaper that: “The government has planned to seed Aadhaar numbers with its universal health program. Experts think that this would help in keeping a check on any fraudulent insurance claims or ghost beneficiaries.”

Aadhaar, the world’s largest biometric database, is governed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), and is currently used to authenticate delivery of social services including school attendance, natural gas subsidies to India’s rural poor, and direct wage payments to bank accounts.

The introduction of universal healthcare to India’s citizens will arguably be the most ambitious use of the biometric database.

To date, India only spends 1.04 percent of GDP on publicly funded health, which is one of the lowest amounts in the world. Higher amounts of public health finance are pivotal to provide a wider range of essential basic health services, along with access to life-saving drugs and expanded healthcare facilities, such as hospitals and health centers.

Because the government plans to make the healthcare plan accessible through Aadhaar, it has committed to accelerate resident registration. In its first budget, the government allocated $340 million to speed the Aadhaar registration process.The government’s objective is now to enroll 100 million more residents with Aadhaar. UIDAI has already enrolled about 700 million people and issued unique identification numbers to 650 million.

5891 - India to Administrate Health Plan with Digital Citizenship Cards

India to Administrate Health Plan with Digital Citizenship Cards

India’s federal government will coordinate delivery of its ambitious new healthcare plan using its biometric identification card system, according to a new Economic Times article.

Announced only a few months ago, India’s new National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM) asserted a vision of federally-provided, affordable healthcare accessible to all Indian citizens. 

The plan would provide citizens with 50 essential drugs and 30 AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) drugs, in addition to other healthcare services. It was met with applause and also a bit of skepticism about how exactly it would be implemented, but at least one piece of that puzzle has fallen into place with this new development regarding Aadhaar.

Spearheaded by newly-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Aadhaar is a national identification system being introduced as part of the government’s Digital India initiative. The plan is to get every single Indian citizen signed up for the identification card, which entails iris and fingerprint biometric scanning. 

Linking the NHAM to the Aadhaar card system will allow the government to secure itself against fraudulent health insurance claims, and will also provider greater healthcare access to citizens.

It’s an ambitious and impressive plan, and by no means is it the only large-scale application of India’s growing biometric identification database: The government is also using public employees’ Aadhaar cards to track their activities at work; it plans to use the Aadhaar cards to administer food and fuel rations; and it’s going to install biometric scanners at major transportation terminals throughout the country.

—

October 21, 2014 – by Alex Perala

5890 - Home Ministry praises the Aadhaar project - Economic Times

Home Ministry praises the Aadhaar project

Aman Sharma, ET Bureau Oct 22, 2014, 04.00AM IST

NEW DELHI: Once a strong critic of the Aadhaar project, the Union home ministry has now effusively praised the project in a letter to all states, saying Aadhaar's biometric identification process eliminates "the threat of any fraud or bogus activity."

The letter sent on September 27 asked states to initiate a drive to enroll all prisoners under the scheme. It followed a directive from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Prisoners should be briefed adequately as to the benefits of obtaining an Aadhaar card before the start of the drive to remove any misgivings about the process," the letter said.

This is a marked shift in the ministry's stand, which has so far pitched for its National Population Register (NPR) project as a more fool-proof mechanism for recording biometric details of citizens.

"Since one Aadhaar is allotted to only one person, it enables the capacity to verify one's identity universally. Aadhaar will allow deprived and needy people in accessing services like banking," the ministry said.

Modi has thrown his weight behind the Aadhaar project, overruling objections from the home ministry that the Unique Identification Authority (UIDAI) has overlooked security concerns by handing over the Aadhaar enrolment process to private parties. "Since Aadhaar is based on the demographic and biometric information of an individual, it eliminates the threat of any fraud or bogus activity. Aadhaar will provide its possessor with universal identification," said the home ministry's letter.

The ministry has now also conceded that Aadhaar will be a "single source" of identity verification and give a universal mobility to migrants.

"Aadhaar will facilitate 'anytime, anywhere, anyhow' authentication to its beneficiary. 

The benefits of Aadhaar are many. Aadhaar can be used at multiple places to prove one's identity easily. A person's Aadhaar number can be used while opening a bank account as it meets 'know-yourcustomer' norms of RBI, applying for passport, and at many other places where there is a need to give the proof of identity," the letter said.

It added that as more and more government services are going to be linked to Aadhaar, it would be of utility to have an Aadhaar card.

"Aadhaar will, hence, help the poor people to take the benefits of the facilities provided to them by government which could not be accessed by these people earlier. Aadhaar will, thus, become the simplest way of proving one's identity," the letter said.

Regarding enrolling prisoners under Aadhaar, the ministry has said it would be of "immense utility" to offer Aadhaar to them as a welfare measure, since there may be many inmates who may have missed the enrolment process as they were in jail.

"The Tihar Jail has started the enrolment process and received a very good response. The enrolment process is voluntary and there is no compulsion involved as in Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920. Moreover, the data so collected by the UIDAI is not meant for use by the correctional home and is only for the provision of an Aadhaar card to enable the re-integration of the under-trial prisoner or convict on release," the ministry said.