OUR BUREAU
Among other policies, the new govt has continued UPA’s schemes such as Aadhaar and rural employment scheme
With a change in government, one expects changes in policy, as well. But the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre has not only decided to continue with some of the key economic policies and initiatives of the previous government, it has also given a new lease of life to ‘Aadhaar’ or the Unique Identity Number, the UPA’s pet project.
When the Modi government came to power there was a strong buzz that this scheme would be among the first casualties. But the project has not only got additional budget allocation, its coverage targets has also been expanded.
Aadhaar
Interestingly, the authority for issuing this number, Unique Identification Authority of India is yet to get a statutory status; the National Identification Authority of India Bill has been pending in the Rajya Sabha since 2010. The question is, why did the Modi government decide to continue with this scheme? This, according to observers, could be for inclusive growth and providing benefits to the real beneficiaries. To achieve this, the first requirement is to identify the beneficiary and Aadhaar could play an important role here. Such a move would also help in achieving financial discipline.
With this in mind, the Cabinet (in its meeting on September 10) decided to increase the enrolment target to 100 crore from 60 crore.
In fact, the first indications of the continuation of the project came in the Budget presented in July. The budgetary allocation was enhanced to ₹2,039.64 crore in 2014-15 (₹1,550 crore in 2013-14). More than 70 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated since August 2010. The total expenditure incurred by UIDAI since inception is ₹4,906 crore (as on August 2014).
Currently, the authority is enrolling 10 lakh people every day at over 25,000 camps and permanent centres. It has revised its target and plans to enrol 15 lakh people every day. The Government has also 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 and more recently attendance system in government offices besides incorporating it in the service book of government employee.
Rural employment
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme is another policy of the previous government which has been continued. The programme was termed a ‘game changer’ and played a key role in bringing back the UPA to power in 2009.
Since the inception of the scheme in 2006, the Government has paid ₹1,80,000 crore as wages, which is around 71 per cent of total expenditure on this scheme. The government has made it clear that the scheme will remain operational in all the 6,500 blocks and will not be restricted to 2,500 blocks as being alleged.
Apart from these, several other initiatives have been continued with some modification. For example, the financial inclusion programme has been expanded to rural and urban households. Similarly, the sanitation programme has got new name with more focus on providing toilet facilities for girls.
(This article was published on December 24, 2014)