7279 -Indian State Launches Biometric Identity Project with Microsoft - Planet Biometric

Indian State Launches Biometric Identity Project with Microsoft

India’s Maharashtra state has launched a digital identity project with Microsoft India that aims to bring together welfare schemes linked to biometric ID numbers.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced the project after meeting with Microsoft (India) chairman Bhaskar Pramanik.

The scheme will create digital identities for the state’s citizens by linking with the biometric-backed Aadhaar card. The unique ID has been used to validate identities for flahship welfare programmes such as Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and new pension provisions.

All non-confidential data of the citizens will be digitised and stored in cloud computing facilities provided by Microsoft. “The requirement of multiple identity cards will vanish due to this. It will work like a digital locker where all documents right from ration card to degree certificates will be available at one click,” said Fadnavis.

Currently the New Delhi-based Unique Identification Authority of India stores the facial, iris and fingerprint data gathered as part of the Aadhaar ID project.

An initial pilot will be rolled out in a village with more than 500 families. After evaluation, the scheme may be expanded to urban areas.

As of this week, about 745.6 million people, or 61 per cent of India’s 1.2 billion population, had been allotted Aadhaar numbers. The government’s target is to enrol everyone for the scheme by June. In 15 states, the percentage of enrolment is over 90 per cent. Some 140 million bank accounts have also been linked with Aadhaar numbers.

7278 - Maharashtra Digital Identity project launched with Microsoft - The Hindu

MUMBAI, January 29, 2015

Updated: January 29, 2015 08:58 IST

Maharashtra Digital Identity project launched with Microsoft

ALOK DESHPANDE

Maharashtra government will launch the country’s first ‘Digital Identity’ project for individual benefit schemes like Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG, in collaboration with Microsoft India.

The announcement followed a meeting between Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Microsoft (India) chairman Bhaskar Pramanik.

Linked with Aadhaar

Elaborating the concept, Mr. Fadnavis said the Aadhaar card would be the base of the project. “It will be mainly used for all individual benefit schemes, such as NREGA and pension scheme. The digital identity will be linked with the Aadhaar card,” he said.

All non-confidential data of the citizens will be digitised and stored in cloud computing facilities provided by the Microsoft. “The requirement of multiple identity cards will vanish due to this. It will work like a digital locker where all documents right from ration card to degree certificates will be available at one click,” said Mr. Fadnavis.

The State government is planning to implement the pilot project in a village with more than 500 families. After evaluation, the scheme may be expanded to urban areas as well.

The Maharashtra government has also announced its plan to set up a ‘value chain’ between the State, World Economic Forum (WEF) and private companies to benefit the farmers. Around 25 lakh farmers will be accommodated in a chain where the company will directly buy grains from the farmer. “The farmers will cultivate crops as per the demands of a specific company and the product will be directly sold to the company,” said Mr. Fadnavis, who recently attended the WEF at Davos in Switzerland.

7277 - Maharashtra government ropes in Microsoft for creating digital IDs for citizens - dna

Maharashtra government ropes in Microsoft for creating digital IDs for citizens

Thursday, 29 January 2015 - 7:25am IST | Agency: dna | From the print edition

Dhaval Kulkarni

Follow @dhavalkulkarni

The state government is working with software giant Microsoft on a project to grant citizens a digital identity which will merge all other identities like driving licences and passports. People will also be given access to an Aadhaar-linked online repository which will store all important certificates and will be used while applying for jobs and services.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said they were working on a pilot project with Microsoft to grant a digital identity to people. "The base ID will be Aadhaar and all IDs will be seeded with it. A digital ID will be created and a person will be able to use it everywhere," he added.

Citizens will also be granted a digital locker to store information regarding their degrees and other details.

Fadnavis said in a meeting with Microsoft on Wednesday, the software giant had said they would set up two major data centres in Mumbai and Pune, with the largest capacity in Asia. One such centre has also been planned in Chennai and the three facilities will together cost Rs2,100 crore.

"Once these three data centres are ready, the entire country and South Asia can be handled from there," added Fadnavis.

The state IT department had earlier worked on a "preliminary prototype" of this e-locker from where, if a citizen is applying online for any service, the government department concerned can easily pull out these documents, and add fresh documents applied for by the applicant in this repository. The e-locker will store all important certificates like those related to birth, passport and education.

People will also be able to take printouts of their documents, degrees and certificates from the digital locker, which will have built-in security features. The department had experimentally rolled out the project and operationalised the https://elocker.maharashtra.gov.in website on an "experimental basis."

Over nine crore of Maharashtra's 11.23 crore population has enrolled for Aadhaar.

The state government plans to develop Mumbai as a finance hub with the chief minister holding bilateral meetings with companies on the sidelines of the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Corporate majors like Credit Suisse are looking at Mumbai for their expansion plans.

7276 - India’s IT & communications ministry to take over Aadhaar biometric identification project - Biometric Update

India’s IT & communications ministry to take over Aadhaar biometric identification project

By Stephen Mayhew

January 28, 2015 - 

India’s ministry of information technology and communications will take over the country’s national citizen identification project, Aadhaar, according to a report by Business Standard.

Under the Unique Identification Authority of India, the planning commission in the previous government was previously in charge of Aadhaar. However, leadership for the project must now shift as a result of the commission’s recent revamp.

“Since Aadhaar has many links with technology and is expected to play a bigger role in the government’s plan of ‘Digital India’, the ministry of IT and communications has started consultations with other ministries to move Aadhaar under its domain,” a senior government official told Business Standard, adding that the ministry would soon prepare a Cabinet note for bringing Aadhaar under its administrative jurisdiction.

Currently, about 745.6 million people, or 61% of the population, have been provided with Aadhaar numbers, with a government goal to enrol the entire country by June. Additionally, the percentage of enrolment is over 90% in 15 states.

Aadhaar is also being used for several other functions, including monitoring the attendance of government officials and as a proof of identity for government and private services.

The government also plans to link Aadhaar numbers with driving licences after successfully linking them with passports, mobile SIM cards, pension funds and the Digital India project.

Previously reported, the Election Commission of India is working on a plan to “embed” and synchronize the Aadhaar database with that of the Electoral Photo ID Card to help prevent duplication or forgery at election polls.

7275 - Letters: Difference in governance - Business Standard

Letters: Difference in governance

Business Standard  |  New Delhi  January 27, 2015 Last Updated at 21:02 IST

This refers to A K Bhattacharya's column "A simple matter of conviction" (Raisina Hill, January 26). The three recent initiatives to improve governance show the conviction of the government and define Prime Minister Narendra Modi's much-touted "minimum government, maximum governance" agenda. 

It is the proper implementation of laws and government policies that makes the real difference at the ground level. Problems related to subsidies need to be tackled at two levels to make them effective for inclusive growth. One, keep a check on the rampant 'leakage' of subsidies; and two, eliminate subsidies for people who don't need or deserve them. The author has rightly emphasised the need for direct cash transfer, for which he has complimented the current government for its efforts -the opening of bank accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana and continued coverage of people under the Aadhaar scheme.

We also need to appreciate the step taken by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to give up the benefits of subsidised LPG. This has created a ripple effect prompting other ministers, government officials and private well-to-do individuals to follow suit. Similarly, rich farmers who enjoy other subsidies and whose income is free of taxes should come forward and set the precedent. It is here where the difference in governments and governance gets reflected.

Naresh Saxena New Delhi

Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:

The Editor, Business Standard

Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg

New Delhi 110 002

Fax: (011) 23720201

E-mail: letters@bsmail.in

All letters must have a postal address and telephone number

7274 - Bhopal: Digvijaya calls Modi megalomaniac - Hindustan Times

Bhopal: Digvijaya calls Modi megalomaniac

• HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, Bhopal/Indore | Updated: Jan 28, 2015 04:10 IST

Digvijaya Singh addresses a press conference at Pradesh Congress Committee office in Bhopal on Tuesday. (Mujeeb Faruqui/HT photo)

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a megalomaniac.

Replying to journalists' query about Modi's suit with his entire name embroidered on it, Singh said Modi is a megalomaniac. Singh also used the term 'aatm-mugdh' (self-obsessed) to describe Modi.

Singh further said Modi's referring to US President Barack Obama as 'Barack' was improper and is not the way to address a head of state. "The US president addressed him as Mr Prime Minister or Mr Modi but he addressed the US president as Barack," said Digvijaya. 

Regarding Modi's earlier statement that he often chatted with Obama, Digvijaya said, "I don't know how much they chat but Modi is known for his 'gup maarne ki aadat' (spinning a yarn)," he added.

The former chief minister also said he hoped Modi would take lesson from US President's advice about religious freedom seriously and rein in the VHP and RSS. Digvijaya was addressing a press conference at the Pradesh Congress Committee office in Bhopal.

"Under Article 25 of Indian Constitution, every Indian has the right to profess and propagate his religion. The PM should ask RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to stop the ghar wapasi and the conversion row."

Digvijaya also attacked MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and alleged that the special task force (STF) is trying to save him in the PEB scam. "The documents have been tampered but now we have got the original documents, especially, the excel sheet recovered from the hard disk of PEB's former system analyst Nitin Mahindra."

"We hope the Special Investigation Team (SIT) would look into the irregularities in STF's probe. But if this doesn’t happen, we will  bring the documents in public domain," he further said. The SIT, which is headed by a retired High Court judge, has been formed by the MP high court to monitor the STF's investigation into the PEB scam.

Earlier on Monday in Indore, the Congress leader had accused the National Democratic Alliance government of making U-turns on several issues. He added that since coming to power in May, the BJP has changed its stand on implementation of Aadhaar card in the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme.

"During the UPA rule, they opposed the implementation of Aadhaar card-linked Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, but now the government is implementing the same to take credit," Singh said, adding that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also failed to fulfill the promise of bringing back black money.

7273 - Election Commission of India to synchronize Aadhaar with EPIC by 2016 - Biometric Update

Election Commission of India to synchronize Aadhaar with EPIC by 2016

By Stephen Mayhew

January 27, 2015 - 

The Election Commission of India has devised a plan to “embed” and synchronize the Aadhaar database with that of the Electoral Photo ID Card (EPIC) to help prevent duplication or forgery at election polls, according to a report by The Economic Times.

Chief Election Commissioner H S Brahma said the poll panel has already begun the process by coordinating with the Aadhaar’s parent body UIDAI. He anticipates the plan to be fully implemented by early 2016.

“We have decided to embed the Aadhaar data on our platform of the EPIC,” said Brahma. “The EPIC is given to every eligible voter of the country. Once we are able to do this, we will have a 100 percent purity of the (electoral) rolls.

“Once these two data come together there will be correct name, biometrics and address of an individual. The day we do that, 99 percent of complaints of political parties and candidates about electoral rolls will disappear. This should be done within the next 8-9 months or early 2016.”

The Aadhaar database stores all biometric data and other important details of an individual.

Currently, only 55 crore (550 million) of the total 84 crore (840 million) eligible voters in the country actually vote, said Brahma. The CEC hopes its plan to synchronize the Aadhaar database with the electorial photo ID card will help boost voter participation.

Former President A P J Abdul Kalam supports the CEC’s vision of elections and said that “bringing these systems on the Internet is no longer a dream and technical interface will ensure larger participation of voters.”

Previously reported, India’s Election Commission said that it will now use a voter’s 12-digit biometric-based Aadhaar number while updating electoral rolls across the country in an effort to curb fraudulent voting.

7272 - Editorial: Boosting aadhaar - Financial Express

Editorial: Boosting aadhaar

By: The Financial Express | January 28, 2015 3:22 am

Given that the government is keen to adopt the Aadhaar platform to deliver subsidies, it is a good idea to bring the Unique Identification and Development Authority of India (UIDAI) under the ministry of communications and information technology. 

The fact that the UIDAI was placed under the Planning Commission could be one of the reasons why it faced the kind of problems it did during the UPA tenure. 

With Planning Commission now scrapped and its replacement NITI Aayog primarily a think tank, UIDAI would, in any case, need to be put under an administrative ministry. 

While the ministry is also the administrative ministry for the Digital India program, it has also succeeded in displaying the efficiency of Aadhaar-based identification model by developing the attendance maintenance system for central government employees to begin with, and is in the process of linking it with police and land records and voter ID cards. Bringing both Aadhaar and Digital India under the same roof will, no doubt, help synergise the government effort.

Aadhaar enrolments have already crossed 75 crore, schemes like cash transfers for LPG have already adopted the Aadhaar-based subsidy delivery model, and the Jan Dhan Yojana will also be based on it. 

Encouragingly, most states now have also embraced Aadhaar and enrollments in 15 states have surpassed 90% already—Rajashan’s social scheme delivery platform Bhamashah and Madhya Pradesh’s Samagra are two big examples of its acceptance. 

With the IT ministry acting as the central point, it will be easier to integrate the Aadhaar-based data universe for delivery of all government money related to social sector schemes. The government must also now move on providing Aadhaar the necessary statutory backing so that there is no controversy on its usage. The UPA had introduced the Bill for this in Parliament but the Parliamentary Standing Committee had struck it down at that time. It has a better chance of getting passed now.

7271 - ‘No way to get Aadhaar card’ - The Hindu

SALEM, January 28, 2015

Updated: January 28, 2015 05:35 IST

‘No way to get Aadhaar card’

STAFF REPORTER

Residents picket the Hasthampatti Zonal office seeking application forms to enrol for Aadhaar card, in Salem on Tuesday.— PHOTO: P. GOUTHAM

Demanding that application for enrolling for Aadhaar card be supplied, more than 100 residents picketed the corporation’s Hasthampatti Zonal office here on Tuesday.

Residents said that though the government is making Aadhaar number mandatory for obtaining various benefits, they were not being given an opportunity to enrol for getting the Aadhaar number.

Schedule for enrolment in other wards was given and the process is initiated. But there is no communication from the zone for us for enrolment, they added.

As soon as they picketed the office, the police were informed. 

The police pacified the residents and assured that the issue would be sorted that. Officials said that forms for enrolment are yet to arrive and it would be distributed to them later. Residents wanted a date to be fixed for distribution of forms and officials said that they would notify them. Later they left the premises.

7270 - Pension for Jan Dhan account holders? - Asian Age

Pension for Jan Dhan account holders?

Jan 25, 2015 | Pti | New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday asked bankers to speed up the process of linking all Jan Dhan bank accounts to Aadhaar and indicated that these accounts would be used for providing credit, insurance and pension services in the second phase of the scheme.

He wrote an email to all bankers to appreciate their “exceptional work” done to implement the Jan Dhan Yojana and said 99.74 per cent of all households in the country have been covered, surpassing the target.

The government will ensure that many more schemes utilise the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) platform, he said.

Contending that the bankers had proved sceptics wrong by achieving what “appeared impossible”, he said it should motivate them further.

“It gives me great pleasure to have seen the exceptional work done by you all in ensuring the success of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. The target set for opening bank accounts for all households has been surpassed well ahead of the target date of 26 January, 2015,” he said in the email.

Congratulating the bankers for their “extraordinary efforts”, he said “by opening 11.5 crore new accounts in a very short span, we have achieved a coverage of 99.74 per cent of all households in the country.”

He then went on to add: “we need to redouble efforts on financial literacy. Aadhaar seeding needs to improve further. Bank Mitras need to be enabled to carry out RuPay card and Aadhaar enabled transactions in villages itself.”

He said he wanted the bankers to work to ensure that each account-holder enrols for Aadhaar and seeds it in the bank account. “This needs to be done for all accounts. I am sure you will do this seeding with the same zeal you showed in driving bank account opening,” he added.

“We need to build on this success and leverage these accounts to provide our citizens a wide range of credit, insurance and pension services. We also need to maintain high standards of customer service. This is the next phase of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana,” he said.

7269 - Babus Resist Biometric Attendance Guerrilla Style - New Indian Express

Babus Resist Biometric Attendance Guerrilla Style

By Pradip R Sagar

Published: 25th Jan 2015 06:00:00 AM

NEW DELHI:Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to set right India’s babudom are showing tell-tale signs of resistance. It appears the bureaucrats have declared a guerrilla warfare against Modi’s discipline drive.

In less than two months of the implementation of the PM’s pet project, biometric attendance systems (BAS), over 50 such machines, which were installed in various ministries to record entry and exit time of government officials, have been found damaged or even stolen under mysterious circumstances.

Annoyed with the attitude of the bureaucrats, the Director General, National Informatics Centre, who is a joint secretary rank officer in the Ministry of Communication and IT, Ajay Kumar, has written a note to all nodal officers and NIC coordinators expressing serious concern over the behaviour of the government employees.

 “It has come to our notice that some biometric attendance terminals installed in your department have been damaged/vandalized,” Ajay Kumar said in a missive dated 16 January. He has also conveyed to the nodal officers that the devices are not covered under warranty of the equipment and therefore, asked officials to take steps to replace the damaged machines on priority and out of their own (ministry/departments) funds.

Kumar has also enclosed a detailed list of damaged and stolen biometric attendance systems at various ministries, including External Affairs. Petroleum, Human Resource Development, Sports, Health, Agriculture, Corporate Affairs, Mines etc. housed in various government complexes like Shastri Bhawan, Nirman Bhawan, Sewa Bhawan, Lok Nayak Bhawan, Shram Shakti Bhawan, Krishi Bhawan and NIC headquarters.

 Surprisingly, the NIC headquarters, which is the implementing agency of the BAS project as well as its headquarters and also houses its server, is reported to have maximum number of damaged attendance machines.  Before installing BAS in a particular ministry, a team of NIC officials conducts workshops for the employees to inform them about the dos and donts of using the system.

 The biometric attendance system (BAS) is part of “Digital India” programme and is currently implemented in the Central government offices located in Delhi.  Gradually, the BAS will be expanded to all Central government employees across India and will be applicable to all ministries, departments, autonomous Central government bodies, institutions and Central public unit sectors as well.

 The NIC has purchased biometric attendance system from a French firm Morpho (Safran), which is linked with the Aadhar card of the employees. The government expects 100% enrolment of employees and all employees present should mark attendance through the centralized biometric attendance system.

 According to the dashboard of the attendance.gov.in, which displays real-time information on the attendance status in government offices on basis of the BAS, on Saturday, out of total 93,913 registered employee 7,124 was showing present from the 1,200 active devices from 427 various departments and ministries.

 In the first phase of implementation, government has installed 1,000 wall mounted biometric attendance terminals, 5,000 finger print scanning devices and 200 IRIS devices across various government buildings. Because the attendance is now centralized, government employees will be able to mark their attendance in any of the buildings where biometric terminals and scanners are installed.

Red Tape Fights Back

Ministries where biometric devices have been damaged: Department of Agriculture, Ministry of External Affairs, CPWD, Mines, Petroleum, PIB, HRD,Culture, Sports, Department of Electronics and Information Technology

7268 - Are you a citizen or resident of India? - Business Standard

Are you a citizen or resident of India?

Union government neglected to provide certification or a national identity card in accordance with the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003

Sahil Makkar  |  New Delhi  January 19, 2015 Last Updated at 00:10 IST

One of the secretaries in the Union government grew agitated when it was pointed out to him that though he might be holding an Indian passport, an Aadhaar number and a voter identity card, it did not necessarily mean he was a citizen of India.

Shocked, the secretary wondered how. It was explained to him that none of these documents validates him as an Indian citizen, according to the existing laws, and the onus was on him to prove his citizenship before the state.

This is because the Union government neglected to provide certification or a national identity card in accordance with the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003, with its genesis in the Citizenship Act, 1955. A citizen is eligible for all entitlements, including voting rights, whereas a resident can be a foreign national.

The latest law says a person can be a citizen of India by birth, naturalisation, descent, incorporation of territory and through the government's special grants, provided he or she meets certain specifications. For instance, those born after December 3, 2004, can claim citizenship by birth only if both parents are Indian citizens or one of them is a citizen of India and the other is not an illegal migrant. Those born between July 1, 1987, and December 2, 2004, have to prove that either parent was an Indian citizen at the time of his or her birth. The restriction does not apply to those born on or after January 26, 1950, and before July 1, 1987.

But people born between January 26, 1950, and July 1, 1987, need to produce any of the 19 documents, including birth certificate, radio licence issued in the 1970s, land records, matriculation certification and death certificate, to have their names registered in the National Register of Indian Citizens. The 2003 law says the Registrar General of India (RGI) must create this citizens' register and issue a national identity card to citizens after verifying their documents and antecedents. Only the RGI's office can provide certification for citizenship.

"Even people in the highest echelons of society and the bureaucracy have not proved their citizenship to the right authority. The law makes it compulsory for everyone to enroll for the National Register of Indian Citizens," said a senior government official.

"It is also true that the voting right is only given to a citizen but in India, the Election Commission could not verify through a robust mechanism whether someone is an Indian citizen or a person from another country. Faking documents is very common in India and it is a Rs 1,000 crore industry in the border areas," the official added.

The Citizenship Act of 1955 was amended following the recommendations of the K Subrahmanyam committee set up to look into security lapses that led to the Kargil war in 1999. The purpose of amending the law was to weed out illegal migrants and provide a credible individual identification system. It gave the RGI the authority to develop a mechanism through which each citizenship claim was verified.

As a follow-up to the Act, the government took up a pilot project in 2003-07 in the border and coastal areas and found 98 per cent of residents were citizens of the country by birth. But the citizenship scheme remained in cold storage till the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed over 166 people. After that, the government was quick to launch an exercise to create the National Population Register (NPR) for all residents, a precursor to the citizen register . The NPR has been created and digitised.

The next logical step is to visit each household and obtain documents from residents about their birth claims. These documents will be cross-checked against data collected during the census and NPR process.

The officials say a proposal worth Rs 5,500 crore is pending for months at the Prime Minister Office (PMO) for creating the citizens' register and issuance of national identity card. After the PMO's nod, it will be presented to Cabinet for a final approval.

"It will take another three years to finish the entire exercise and issue the national identity cards," said the official quoted above.

Many believe the government is reluctant to give citizenship clearance due to political reasons. Many parties depend on migrant votes, but it will be almost impossible for an illegal migrant to obtain a fake voter identity card and vote during the elections
.

7267 - More awareness needed on cyber security, not sure of privacy of Aadhaar data: DSCI chief - Indian Express

More awareness needed on cyber security, not sure of privacy of Aadhaar data: DSCI chief

Experts fear that the breach might occur at the Aadhaar centre of enrollment itself.

Written by Debashis Sarkar | New Delhi | Posted: January 23, 2015 7:51 pm | Updated: January 24, 2015 6:48 pm

While the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will vouch for the privacy and security of Aadhaar information at its data centres, experts fear a breach might occur at the point of enrollment itself. 

“Data centres, I would like to believe, are well secured from external intrusions, however, we cannot be sure about the enrollment centres across the country. The information which is shared at the time of enrollment, in paper form, may get compromised while it reaches the data centre securely,” said Dr. Kamlesh Bajaj, CEO, Data Security Council of India in an exclusive interaction with IndianExpress.com.

The transfer and storage of Aadhaar data is encrypted and is secured but the breach might happen at private enrollment centres across the country. Around 70.43 crore Aadhaar numbers were generated by UIDAI till November 15, 2014.

Asserting on the need to spread awareness on cyber security, Bajaj feels important industry sectors in the country are still not paying much attention on data security. “Banks in India are well secured compared to other important sectors like manufacturing and power. Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), the body which manages IT of the Indian Railways, to a certain extent is paying heed to secure themselves. However, a lot needs to be done,” said Bajaj.

While the Indian IT industry might have adequate information security professionals, on the other hand, there is dearth of experts and professionals in government agencies, feels Bajaj.

DSCI, set as an independent self-regulatory organization by NASSCOM, focuses on developing standards for data security and privacy in Indian industries. It also provides training to law enforcement agencies to deal with cyber crime. It is looking forward to collaborate with universities in the country to promote awareness on cyber security.

- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/technology-others/more-awareness-needed-on-cyber-security-not-sure-of-privacy-of-aadhaar-data-dsci-chief/#sthash.PAu4aV5f.dpuf

7266 - The mystery of a sudden rise in LPG connections - Money Life

The mystery of a sudden rise in LPG connections

DR ANUPAM SARAPH | 27/01/2015 04:01 PM |   

Almost 5.2 crore connections were added after Aadhaar was linked to LPG purchase for getting Direct Benefits Transfer. The newly added accounts means more than a third, or Rs15,725 crore, of subsidy at 12 cylinders per consumer per year

For the last several years, domestic consumers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) have been put on gas with repeated changes in the delivery process. The latest is named PAHAL (for Pratyaksh Hastantarit Laabh) and was earlier also known as direct benefit transfer (DBT). Most LPG consumers have lost sleep over the heat each change has generated.

Read Full Article at Money Life

7265 - 58L Accounts Opened Under Jan Dhan Yojana - New Indian Express

58L Accounts Opened Under Jan Dhan Yojana

By Venkatesh M

Published: 26th January 2015 06:00 AM

BENGALURU:As many as 58.37 lakh savings bank accounts have been opened in the state under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.

K Preetam Lal, general manager of Syndicate Bank, the nodal bank that oversaw the implementation of the scheme, said of the newly-opened accounts, 36.03 lakh have zero balance while around 22.3 lakh have together Rs 328.93 crore.

Lal said banks conducted a door-to-door survey of 132.04 lakh households across the state, and opened accounts for those with none. In this way, 129.89 lakh households, which account for 98.37 per cent of the state’s population, now have a minimum of one account. Lal said banks have also issued 39.75 lakh RuPay debit cards with an accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh. In addition, life insurance of Rs 30,000 is provided to accounts opened under this scheme. Aadhaar-enabled account holders are entitled to overdraft facility up to Rs 5,000 after satisfactory operation for six months, he said. Lal said 33.22 lakh accounts have been opened through Aadhaar seeding. And, 34.59 lakh accounts have been opened in rural areas and the remaining in urban areas.

A toll free number (180042597777) has been set up to address queries regarding the scheme, he said.

Lal said, “In order to create financial awareness, all banks have been advised to establish financial literacy centres in their allotted blocks.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the scheme to include the poor in the banking system by January 26  in August last year.

7264 - A K Bhattacharya: A simple matter of conviction - Business Standard

A K Bhattacharya: A simple matter of conviction

Three recent initiatives kicked off with renewed vigour to improve governance were actually started, perhaps in a different format, by the UPA government

A K Bhattacharya  January 25, 2015 Last Updated at 22:48 IST

One relatively easy way of assessing how the government has tried to address the difficult challenge of governance as well as fiscal prudence will be to take a look at what it has done with respect to delivering subsidies to those who need them the most. Three initiatives in the past few months, apparently unrelated to each other, deserve scrutiny in this context.

The first initiative pertains to the fillip given to the Aadhaar network of creating biometrics-based identity for the country's residents. The scheme has got fresh momentum and the latest number on its coverage is estimated at 750 million, or over 60 per cent of the country's total population. In May 2014, when the Narendra Modi government was formed, the total number of Aadhaar-enrolled people was 632 million or a little over 50 per cent of the population.

The performance in some states is worth a close look. Uttar Pradesh, with a total population base of around 200 million, was brought under the Aadhaar scheme in early 2014 and by now about 75 million have been enrolled. Already, it has covered about 38 per cent of the state's population and the pace of enrolments is expected to increase in the coming months as more agencies are being hired to implement the scheme.

Several states and Union Territories, including Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh have already seen coverage of well over 90 per cent of their population. The coverage in Maharashtra and Jharkhand is now over 80 per cent. And other states such as West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat have covered between two-thirds and three-fourths of their respective population under Aadhaar. Even Odisha's Aadhaar coverage is 61 per cent.

The second initiative is what is popularly known as the Jan Dhan Yojana. The current government gave this a big push with Prime Minister Narendra Modi using his Independence Day address to announce the scheme that would provide banking facilities to those who are deprived of the benefits of financial inclusion and access. The target at the launch of the scheme, according to the government, was to open 75 million new accounts by January 26, 2015. By the middle of January, the number of accounts opened under the scheme has crossed 115 million. One may doubt how many of these 115 million accounts have been actually opened now or whether these include already those who have been covered with a bank account. But the figure of 115 million new accounts is huge and even after adjusting for the inflated numbers, if at all there is any, there should not be any doubt about the scale of the operation or its success.

The third initiative is what is now popularly known as the Pratyaksh Hastantarit Labh or Pahal, which allows consumers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to claim their subsidies directly through their bank accounts. This is the same scheme that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had launched as the Direct Benefits Transfer scheme and had later halted its implementation as it met with some legal and procedural challenges.

The Modi government, however, renamed it as Pahal and revived it by relaunching it in 54 districts in mid-November of 2014. The objective of the scheme was to seed the 150 million LPG connections with bank accounts. At that time, only about a quarter of all the cooking gas connections were seeded with banks accounts, where the subsidy amount would be directly transferred, preventing leakage. In the last two months, the coverage has increased to include 90 million connections or about 60 per cent of the households that have a cooking gas connection. Of this, 55 million are Aadhaar-compliant or have an Aadhaar number. And by March, the entire 150 million gas connections are expected to be brought under Pahal. Already, over Rs 7,200 crore in gas subsidies has been transferred to the bank accounts of households covered under Pahal. Remember that the whole of India has around 240 million households, of which 150 million gas consumers would be covered under Pahal, with their bank accounts receiving the subsidies directly.

All these schemes should help improve governance and rationalise subsidies. A large number of the new schemes for delivering services to over two-thirds of the population by March 2015 and eventually to everybody in the country can be rolled out with virtually no scope for misuse, diversion or leakage. And the irony is that all the three schemes were actually started, perhaps in a different format, by the UPA government. The Modi government made a big difference by showing conviction in them and giving them a big push

7263 - Aadhaar may be brought under IT & Communications ministry - Business Standard

Aadhaar may be brought under IT & Communications ministry

The ministry, under Ravi Shankar Prasad, will soon prepare a Cabinet note for bringing Aadhaar under its administrative jurisdiction

Mansi Taneja  |  New Delhi  January 26, 2015 Last Updated at 23:40 IST

The ministry of information technology (IT) and communications is set to take charge of Aadhaar, the ambitious national citizen identification project.

Under the Unique Identification Authority of India, it was with the Planning Commission in the previous government. After the commission’s revamp, the project has to be shifted.

“Since Aadhaar has many links with technology and is expected to play a bigger role in the government’s plan of ‘Digital India’, the ministry of IT and communications has started consultations with other ministries to move Aadhaar under its domain,” a senior government official told Business Standard.

The ministry, under Ravi Shankar Prasad, would soon prepare a Cabinet note for bringing Aadhaar under its administrative jurisdiction, the official added.

About 745.6 million people, or 61 per cent of the population, have been allotted Aadhaar numbers. The government’s target is to enrol everyone for the scheme by June. In 15 states, the percentage of enrolment is over 90 per cent. And, 140 million bank accounts have been linked with Aadhaar numbers.

Aadhaar is also being used to monitor attendance of government officials and as a proof of identity for availing government and private services. The government plans to link it with driving licences. It has already been linked with passports, mobile SIM cards, provident account funds and the Digital India project.

“Currently, all forms related to these services ask for an Aadhaar number as an optional field. It will soon become a mandatory one, after the services are fully linked,” the official said.

The Cabinet approved a modified version of cash transfers for cooking gas subsidy last October, to begin in 54 districts and spread to the rest of the country this year.

The government is also working on a project to link voter identity cards to biometric Aadhaar identification numbers. Around three million security personnel will have access to instant voting. E-ballot services for security personnel would start after linking their voter ID cards with Aadhaar numbers.

E-ballot will replace the postal ballot system, through which ballot papers are mailed to defence personnel and the votes cast are collected by India Post. Recently, the Supreme Court directed the government to enable e-voting for non-resident Indians (NRIs) within eight weeks. There are 10-11 million NRIs across the world.

The Election Commission was expected to soon launch a pilot project to link voter ID cards and Aadhaar numbers for common citizens, sources said. The project, aimed at eliminating bogus voters, will eventually be rolled out nationally
.

7262 - Link ration cards with Aadhaar details - The Hindu

Link ration cards with Aadhaar details

Utter confusion prevails over the renewal of the ration card as part of the implementation of the National Food Security Act. 

New guidelines and norms are coming out everyday. The relevance of the card for people in the Above Poverty Line category is perhaps nothing more than that of a personal identification document. When Kerala has close to hundred per cent Aadhaar enrolment, making millions of people queue up for getting their photographs taken is insensitive and inhuman. The renewal and issue of the new ration card should be done on the basis of details provided in the prescribed application form and further linking it with Aadhaar.  

C.G. Ramakrishnan    

Kozhikode

Readers may write to the City Editor, The Hindu, either by post at First Floor, Shaaz Building, near Sarada Hospital, Kannur Road, Kozhikode – 673006, or by e-mail to kozhikodehindu@ gmail.com

7261 - Aadhaar database to be embedded with that of EPIC by 2016: CEC - ZEE News

Aadhaar database to be embedded with that of EPIC by 2016: CEC

New Delhi: The Election Commission has initiated an ambitious plan to "embed" and synchronise the Aadhaar database with that of the Electoral Photo ID Card (EPIC) to minimise complaints of duplication or forgery of the electoral rolls.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) H S Brahma today said the poll panel has already started the process in this regard with the Aadhaar's parent body UIDAI and it expected that this task would be achieved by early 2016.

"We have decided to embed the Aadhaar data on our platform of the EPIC. The EPIC is given to every eligible voter of the country. Once we are able to do this, we will have a 100 per cent purity of the (electoral) rolls.

"Once these two data come together there will be correct name, biometrics and address of an individual. The day we do that, 99 per cent of complaints of political parties and candidates about electoral rolls will disappear. This should be done within the next 8-9 months or early 2016," he said while addressing the 5th National Voters' Day event here.

The Aadhaar database captures all essential biometrics and other vital details of an individual.

The CEC, while talking about participation of the citizens during elections, urged voters to enthusiastically go to the polling booth to vote in every election, including the forthcoming Assembly polls in Delhi on February 7.

He said voting is a "moral responsibility" on the part of the voters.

Brahma said out of a total 84 crore voters in the country, only 55 crore vote while the rest, about 30 crore, do not vote at a given time due to various reasons like accidental or deliberate absentism.

"It is everyone's moral duty and ethical responsibility to vote. The role of political parties is to elect a good leader and the role of voters is important. If you choose a good candidate or leader he will work for all of us," he said. 

PTI

First Published: Sunday, January 25, 2015, 18:07

7260 - Jan Dhan Yojana to target credit, pension services - Deccan Herald

Jan Dhan Yojana to target credit, pension services

New Delhi, Jan 25, 2015, DHNS:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sent an email to all bankers to gear up for the next phase of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana that will focus on credit, insurance and pension services.

Modi has also asked bankers to ensure that all “Jan Dhan” bank accounts are linked to “Aadhaar” or unique identification numbers allotted to people. “We need to redouble efforts on financial literacy. Aadhaar seeding needs to improve further. Bank Mitras need to be enabled to carry out RuPay card and Aadhaar enabled transactions in the villages,” he said.

Modi said: “I want you to work to ensure that each account holder enrols for Aadhaar and seeds it in the bank account. This needs to be done for all accounts. I am sure you will do this seeding with the same zeal you showed in implementing the bank account opening drive.”

Congratulating bankers, he said: “Well begun is half done. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana provides a platform for changing the economic conditions of our people. We need to build on this success and leverage these accounts to provide our citizens a wide range of credit, insurance and pension services. We also need to maintain high standards of customer service. This is the next phase of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.”

The scheme, launched after Modi’s Independence Day address in August last year, has surpassed the target of 10 crore bank accounts by opening 11.5 crore accounts till date.

7259 - Modi congratulates banks for opening 11.5 crore accounts under Jan Dhan Yojana - Indian Express

Modi congratulates banks for opening 11.5 crore accounts under Jan Dhan Yojana

By: ENS Economic Bureau | New Delhi | Posted: January 25, 2015 1:52 am

With over 11.5 crore bank accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed that banks now must work on promoting financial literacy and enrolling account holders for Aadhaar.

According to latest data, 11.89 crore bank accounts have been opened by Janaury 22 under the scheme and the cumulative balance has crossed Rs 1,000 crore to amount to Rs 1,002.36 crore. Meanwhile, 10.46 crore RuPay cards have also been issued and 4.12 crore accounts have been seeded with Aadhaar numbers. However, 8.06 crore accounts continue to be dormant with zero balance. “We need to redouble efforts on financial literacy. Aadhaar seeding needs to improve further. Bank Mitras need to be enabled to carry out RuPay card and Aadhaar enabled transactions in villages itself. I want you to work to ensure that each account holder enrols for Aadhaar and seeds it in the bank account. This needs to be done for all accounts,” he said in a letter congratulating bank chiefs for surpassing the target of opening 10 crore accounts under the scheme.

Noting that 99.74 per cent of all households in the country are now covered under the PMJDY, he stressed that development activities have been hindered by the “disability” of not having bank accounts.

- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/business/banking-and-finance/modi-congratulates-banks-for-opening-11-5-crore-accounts-under-jan-dhan-yojana/#sthash.d5hLlhVi.dpuf

7258 - Jan Dhan accounts be linked to Aadhaar: PM Narendra Modi - Financial Express

Jan Dhan accounts be linked to Aadhaar: PM Narendra Modi

By: PTI | New Delhi | January 25, 2015 1:13 am

All Jan Dhan bank accounts should be linked to Aadhaar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, asking bankers to speed up this process and redouble efforts on financial literacy. 

He wrote an email to all bankers to appreciate their ‘exceptional work’ to implement the Jan Dhan Yojana and said 99.74% of all households in the country have been covered, surpassing the target.

The government will ensure that many more schemes utilise the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) platform, he said. “By opening 11.5 crore new accounts in a very short span, we have achieved a coverage of 99.74% of all households in the country. I congratulate you for your extraordinary efforts,” the Prime Minister wrote.

Contending that the bankers had proved sceptics wrong, he said it should motivate them further. “We need to redouble efforts on financial literacy. Aadhaar seeding needs to improve further. Bank mitras need to be enabled to carry out RuPay card and Aadhaar-enabled transactions in villages itself,” he told bankers.

“I want you to work to ensure that each account holder enrolls for Aadhaar and seeds it in the bank account. This needs to be done for all accounts. I am sure you will do this seeding with the same zeal you showed in driving bank account opening,” he added.

Jan Dhan, a major financial inclusion scheme, was launched by the Prime Minister on August 28 last year. Noting that “well begun is half done”, Modi laid out a roadmap for the future as he said the Jan Dhan Yojana provides a platform for changing the economic condition of the people.

“We need to build on this success and leverage these accounts to provide our citizens a wide range of credit, insurance and pension services. We also need to maintain high standards of customer service. This is the next phase of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana,” Modi said.

7257 - Aadhaar database to be embedded with that of EPIC by 2016: CEC - Economic Times

Aadhaar database to be embedded with that of EPIC by 2016: CEC

PTI Jan 25, 2015, 05.08PM IST

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has initiated an ambitious plan to "embed" and synchronise the Aadhaar database with that of the Electoral Photo ID Card (EPIC) to minimise complaints of duplication or forgery of the electoral rolls.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) H S Brahma today said the poll panel has already started the process in this regard with the Aadhaar's parent body UIDAI and it expected that this task would be achieved by early 2016.

"We have decided to embed the Aadhaar data on our platform of the EPIC. The EPIC is given to every eligible voter of the country. Once we are able to do this, we will have a 100 per cent purity of the (electoral) rolls.

"Once these two data come together there will be correct name, biometrics and address of an individual. The day we do that, 99 per cent of complaints of political parties and candidates about electoral rolls will disappear. This should be done within the next 8-9 months or early 2016," he said while addressing the 5th National Voters' Day event here.

The Aadhaar database captures all essential biometrics and other vital details of an individual.

The CEC, while talking about participation of the citizens during elections, urged voters to enthusiastically go to the polling booth to vote in every election, including the forthcoming Assembly polls in Delhi on February 7.

He said voting is a "moral responsibility" on the part of the voters.

Brahma said out of a total 84 crore voters in the country, only 55 crore vote while the rest, about 30 crore, do not vote at a given time due to various reasons like accidental or deliberate absentism.

"It is everyone's moral duty and ethical responsibility to vote. The role of political parties is to elect a good leader and the role of voters is important. If you choose a good candidate or leader he will work for all of us," he said.

"Once you do not vote, one cannot blame the government for whatever good or bad it does.

"If you do not vote it is your problem. The government decides our lives, electricity, roads, among other things. All depends on the government. If the government is not selected responsibly, we are to blame," Brahma said.

During the event, organised to enhance voter participation in the country, former President A P J Abdul Kalam also underlined the importance of choosing good leaders.

He asked political parties to undertake more of "developmental" politics and less of "political" politics.

"70 per cent of the time political parties and their leaders should undertake development politics while the rest 30 per cent of time they should do political politics. Unfortunately, it is the reverse what we see," he said.

Kalam also endorsed the CEC's futuristic vision of elections in the country which will be powered and enabled by the Internet where voters can check the full details about their electoral logistics on the web.

"Bringing these systems on the Internet is no longer a dream and technical interface will ensure larger participation of voters," he said.

7256 - Camp for defence pensioners at Sainik Welfare Office

PUDUCHERRY, January 24, 2015

Updated: January 24, 2015 05:45 IST

Camp for defence pensioners at Sainik Welfare Office

The Department of Sainik Welfare in association with National Informatics Centre will be organising a camp for the benefit of the defence pensioners at Sainik Welfare Office Complex, Pakkamudianpet, Lawspet from January 30 to February 5 to register them for digital life certificate.

Aim of initiative

The aim of the camp is to empower the pensioner by providing an additional option to submit life certificate using the information technology at his/her convenience including the option of submitting from individual’s home through bio-reader enabled PC/Mobile.

A release from the Kendriya Sainik Board also indicates that it is in the process of revising procedures for the disbursal of financial assistance to ex-servicemen and their dependents via Electronic Clearance into Aadhaar Linked Bank Accounts to ensure timely and accurate payments and this registration will automatically cater for it. To attend the registration camp the pensioners are required to visit the camp in person with their Pension Payment Order, Pension Passbook, Aadhaar Card and personal mobile.

To avoid long waiting time at the camp the pensioners are requested to make advance booking with the Sainik Welfare Office either in person or telephonically (Tele: 0413-2253107/2250575) during working hours.

7255 - ‘Demarcate landscapes in the Western Ghats’ - The Hindu

UDUPI, January 24, 2015

Updated: January 24, 2015 05:40 IST

‘Demarcate landscapes in the Western Ghats’

Govt. urged to give priority to conducting survey of villages marked as eco-sensitive

Shobha Karandlaje, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP, said on Friday that the State government should give priority to conducting a survey of villages, marked as eco-sensitive areas by the K. Kasturirangan Panel report, on the border areas of the Western Ghats.

Addressing presspersons here, Ms. Karandlaje said that the State government should follow the Kerala model and get the cultural and natural landscapes demarcated in the Western Ghats by retired forest officials, as their report would carry more weightage in the Supreme Court.

Instead the State government had appointed a Cabinet Sub-Committee to collect information from officials and people on the Kasturirangan panel’s report on conservation of the Western Ghats. “The State government is trying to mislead the people. The Union government has no role to play in this matter,” she said.

On the slow pace of the work of widening the Talapady-Kundapura stretch of National Highway 66, Ms. Karandlaje said that it was due to the financial troubles faced by the Navayuga Company, which was implementing the work. She had brought the matter to the notice of the Union Minister for Road Transport and National Highways Nitin Gadkari, who had assured her of getting the works expedited.

She said that the widening and concreting of the Agumbe Ghat road would be taken up shortly. A Detailed Project Report had already been prepared and a sum of Rs. 10 crore had been allotted for it.

The district administration had allocated 10 acres of land for constructing the Kendriya Vidyalaya at Alevoor village near Udupi. Since the construction could take a couple of years, it had been decided to start the Kendriya Vidyalaya at the Government Primary School premises at Malpe temporarily from the next academic year. Ms. Karandlaje said that of the 11.7 lakh population of Udupi district, 9.5 lakh people already had Aadhaar cards. The State government would start 12 new Aadhaar centres in the district in a fortnight.

She demanded a high-level probe into the group clashes which took place in Gangolli village on January 21.

Shobha Karandlaje,MP, says work on the Agumbe Ghat road would be taken up shortly

10 acres of land has been allotted for building a Kendriya Vidyalaya at Alevoor village near Udupi

7254 - BMC speeds up Aadhar card enrolment process - dna of Behrampur

BMC speeds up Aadhar card enrolment process

Friday, 23 January 2015 - 6:30pm IST | Ronalisa Parida

• An enrolment centre has been opened at Diamond Jubilee Town Hall  - Ronalisa Parida

The enrolment process of Aadhar card sped up with the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) taking the responsibility to collect data for Aadhar card and smart card. An enrolment centre has been opened at Diamond Jubilee Town Hall.

Three years ago, private companies were assigned to enrol Aadhaar card but more than half of the population was left during the process.

The data is collected as per the National Population Register (NPR). However, those who don’t have their names in NPR, they have to fill up the NPR from available at the centres and then after a week they will be called for collecting the data required for Aadhaar card.

“Government has decided to provide digitised cards instead of only Aadhaar cards. Those who already have a Aadhaar card will also be provided the smart cards. People who will enrol now will get both Aadhaar and digitised cards”, informed Deputy Commissioner Dipti Mahapatra, Nodal Officer for Aadhaar card enrolment, BMC.

7253 - A practical approach to fight Corruption & IBI Menace in Nagaland - Morung Express

A practical approach to fight Corruption & IBI Menace in Nagaland

The Naga Blog is a forum on facebook where Nagas from Nagaland and around the world network, share ideas and discuss a wide range of topics from politics and philosophy to music and current events in Nagaland and beyond. The blog is not owned by any individual, nor is it affiliated to or associated with any political party or religion. The only movement it hopes to stir is the one raised by the voices of the Nagas every step of the way, amassing perhaps to mass consciousness one day.
 www.facebook.com/groups/thenagablog

Yanpvuo Kikon: Initiatives like Survival Nagaland are the only ones who are walking the talk and doing their part to fight the IBI menace and we should support them wholeheartedly by giving our inputs, ideas advices and even physical presence as much as possible. However, we also need to know the various Acts, Rules and Policies within the Administration before executing any plan of action.

Important Point to Note:
1. Dimapur is not covered by ILP(Inner Line Permit), so any bonafied citizen of India has the right to carry out any form of business activity in Dimapur.
2. ILP cannot be extended to Dimapur because ILP is a British system which was introduced before Indian Independence. Hence, this concept is outside the purview of the Constitution of India which cannot be implemented anywhere within India. Even other States like Manipur were demanding for ILP but it is impossible to introduce ILP because any law in India cannot be implemented outside the ambit of the Indian Constitution.

Challenges:
The District Administration and Police does not have any other legal mechanism to identify a person as a IBI, because if a person is carrying a legal document proving that he is from Karimganj, Assam then he has legal rights to do any form of business in Dimapur "As long as the house owner gives him the space to carry out his business activity."

This is a big challenge because now the law enforcing agencies and district administration under the current system does not have any teeth to control the situation!

So what next? What are the Legal mechanisms to check the influx?

THE SOLUTION:

1. Adopt and Replicate the Mokokchung concept.
Mokokchung has been one of the best examples of solving the IBI issue, why are we not collaborating with those who initiated the movement?

Survival Nagaland and all other Organisation can organize a one day workshop by having the Survival Mokokchung Team come to Dimapur and give a presentation on how they implemented this successfully! After this, Survival Nagaland can adopt the Best practice and go for rapid replication of this Program in Dimapur.

Administration and Police have no teeth now, so the ball is now in the court of the Civil Society to act immediately. Pressure house owners and Taxi Union, DMC not to issue any Permits or Licenses to those IBI suspected persons hailing from 'KARIMGANJ'

2. AADHAAR, Biometric based solutions:
Till date, Nagaland has registered only about 40% of our population in the Aadhaar card registration. Civil society, Surivival Nagaland and ACAUT must pressurize the State Government to speed up the enrollment process and cover 100% of our population in the Aadhaar enrollment!

Why? Because Aadhaar is the solution to IDENTIFICATION! Many people in Nagaland have the misconception that Aadhaar guarantees 'Citizenship' and 'Benefits' to those who have the Aadhaar card! That is one of the biggest blunder and misconception about Aadhaar. Aadhaar provides 'IDENTITY' and not 'CITIZENSHIP'. Anybody residing in India, be it foreigners or Indian citizens are supposed to get enrolled to Aadhaar because this will enable any Government Department to easily identify any person, whether he is a local, foreigner, legal or illegal immigrant.

Once we have Aadhaar in place and e-Governance projects are fully implemented, our Homeland security can become even more efficient  than the US Homeland Security! Corruption will be almost eliminated because schemes such as NGREGA, PDS(Ration Cards to Below poverty), Widow Pensions, Tendering, Criminal Tracking and even giving Indigenous, ST Certificates and other documents will be completely digitized so that no corrupt officer will be able to manipulate data, provide fake any documents by taking bribes because these will be based on the system and linked to the central Aadhaar CIDR(Central Identities Data Repository). Aadhaar itself cannot completely eliminate all the problems but it is a solution towards improving the existing problems like Sikkim and the East Godavari PDS aadhaar based system.

Sikkim is one of the glaring examples in the success of the UIDAI Aadhaar/ Biometric because now their State Government is easily able to identify between a resident from Sikkim and an outsider with their own concept of 'Foreign UID'! For example, if a migrant worker named 'XYZ' from Bihar is being checked by Police or Administration. The worker will show his Aadhaar card. Since they have all the e-Governance systems in place, the police simply enters his UID number in their system. After authentication from CIDR, the system directly shows that Mr. XYZ hails from ABC District, Bihar, Born in dd/mm/yy and other details.

While other States have gone ahead, even e-Procurement and e-Tendering have not gone ahead in Nagaland! Have you asked why? Because with this initiative all the cuts and percentages of Politicians and Bureaucrats will be almost eradicated! All Nagaland contractors and Suppliers Union, ACAUT and other Civil Society Organisations must pressurize to pass these Bills (e-Procurement and e-Tendering) in the Legislative Assembly or else the quality of all our Government Contracts and Supplies will remain as pathetic as it is.

Most of the problems in Nagaland starting from CORRUPTION and unable to identify legal/illegal immigrants can be controlled if aadhaar enrollment is completed. Because then we will have a solid database of all the people residing in Nagaland which will enable us to develop software solutions which will plug all the leakages within the existing system.

How did a country like Singapore transform from being one of the poorest, disease and corrupted infested country to become one of the Richest and least corrupted country in the world within one generation. It took one leader, 'Lee Kuan Yew', it took one Political Will to implement solid Policies and execute them with super effective administration supplemented by e-Governance(Easy, Effective and Electronic System).
All it takes to transform any society is Political Will which is Purpose-Driven and People-Centric . However, the sad case in our present Nagaland context is that our 'Political Will' has become Ego-Driven and Self-Centric.

(UID - Unique Identification, UIDAI - Unique Identification Authority of India)

Rhanlamo Lapon: The person in the picture showing driving license issued by transport department is a whole sale shopkeeper at Dobhinala so he showed me this fake document. I seized it while the police were also watching and no action taken. He is from Karimkanj, Assam. He is a IBI running a shop at city centre, the paper I seized was issued to him by an unknown person. He don't have any vehicle he said he rides bicycle, the seals are of transport department and it is a driving licence.


(The Naga Blog was  created in 2008  by Yanpvuo Kikon. This  column in The Morung  Express will be a weekly feature  every Saturday)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of The Naga Blog!

7252 - Modified DBT in LPG scheme covers over 60% consumers - Business Standard

Modified DBT in LPG scheme covers over 60% consumers

Rs 2,262 crore transferred into beneficiary accounts

BS Reporter  |  New Delhi  January 24, 2015 Last Updated at 10:41 IST

The petroleum ministry has managed to cover over 60% of the country’s 150 million Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) consumers under the modified version of the Direct Benefit Transfer in LPG (DBTL) scheme launched nationwide on 1 January.

The scheme, nicknamed Pratyaksh Hastantarit Labh (PAHAL), is the largest cash transfer program in the world. It aims at directly transferring cash subsidy on cooking gas into the bank accounts of consumers thereby weeding out duplication and plug leakages. 

“As on date, 90 million consumers have already joined the scheme and will receive subsidy directly into their bank accounts,” according to the petroleum ministry.

The government has so far transferred over Rs 2,262 crore as subsidy and Permanent Advance in over 70 million transactions to the LPG consumers. Overall, a total of Rs 7,269 crore has been transferred as LPG subsidy under the scheme.

The states where the growth in consumers joining the scheme has been maximum (more than 40%) include Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, UP, Assam and Meghalaya. Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh occupy the second rank, with growth rate of above 35% in number of people joining the scheme.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had earlier this month voluntarily given up use of subsidised LPG, joining a growing list of well-to-do people who have opted to buy cooking gas at market rate. Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and power minister Piyush Goyal are among the others who have given up LPG subsidy.

Public sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have given an option to existing LPG consumers to convert their existing domestic LPG connection into a non-subsidised domestic connection. This can be done by submitting a written request to the distributor or electronically via www.mylpg.in.

The original DBTL scheme was launched by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government by enabling cash transfer through linking of bank accounts with Aadhaar numbers. The scheme had to be stopped after Supreme Court observed Aadhaar numbers cannot be a proof of citizenship.

The NDA government had restarted DBTL in 54 districts in mid-November of 2014. Under the current scheme, consumers are getting three months of grace period to link their connections with bank account and Aadhaar. Even after March, if their bank account details are not available, they will have to buy LPG cylinders at the market price. But the subsidy will be stored in an escrow account which they will receive as soon as they link their connections. 

Under the scheme, linking the beneficiaries’ bank account with Aadhaar is not mandatory even as the government is encouraging consumers to link their connections with both bank accounts as well as the Unique Identification (UID) number. Linking with Aadhaar is expected to weed out fakes and duplicates from the system.

Consumers are currently entitled to twelve 14.2-kg cylinders or 34 five-Kg bottles in a year at subsidised rates. Any requirement above that has to be procured at market price. A subsidised 14.2-kg cylinder is currently available at Rs 417 per bottle in Delhi. The subsidised cooking gas is also available in 5-kg packs, costing Rs 155 per cylinder in Delhi.

India has 152.4 million active LPG customers and around 90 million have already become cash transfer compliant. Of these, 55 million are Aadhar based. In addition, 18.3 million LPG customers had seeded their Aadhaar number with the LPG distributors as on 10 January. The government intends to cover 75% of the eligible customers by 28 February.

7251 - ‘Aadhaar information vulnerable at point of enrolment’ - Indian Express

‘Aadhaar information vulnerable at point of enrolment’

Written by Debashis Sarkar | New Delhi | Posted: January 24, 2015 5:48 am | Updated: January 24, 2015 5:49 am

While the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will vouch for the privacy and security of Aadhaar information at its data centres, experts fear a breach might occur at the point of enrolment itself.

“Data centres are well secured from external intrusions, however, we cannot be sure about the enrolment centres. The information which is shared at the time of enrolment may get compromised before it reaches the data centre,” said Kamlesh Bajaj, CEO, Data Security Council of India (DSCI) in an exclusive interaction with IndianExpress.com

The procedure and devices used by enrolment agencies have been reported to be one of the major weaknessess of the Aadhaar project.

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