10344 - Cataloging violations of Supreme Court’s order on Aadhaar - Legally India

Experts & Views

17 August 2016

  An estimated 4-minute read

Cataloging violations of Supreme Court’s order on Aadhaar

by sflc_admin    |    August 17, 2016

The journey of the Aadhaar scheme can be traced back from its inception in 2006, following which it has undergone scrutiny by way of two Bills that aimed to provide it statutory backing, one Parliamentary Standing Committee evaluation, and multiple challenges in the Supreme Court. With respect to the petitions pending in the Supreme Court that challenge the scheme on various grounds, the latest order by the Apex Court on 15th October, 2015 had held the following three things:

• the use of Aadhaar will be purely voluntary
• no one will be denied any service for the lack of an Aadhaar card
• pending decision by the Supreme court on the legality of this scheme, Aadhaar can only be used (on a voluntary basis) for dispersal of benefits and subsidies under PDS, LPG, MNREGA, PM Jan Dhan Yojna, National Social Assistance Program, and Employees’ Providend Fund Organization. (A copy of the order can be accessed here)

 While these petitions, tagged together under K.S. Puttaswamy & Ors. v. Union Of India & Ors. (W.P.(C) 494/2012) are awaiting final judgment by the Supreme Court, the Aadhaar scheme received statutory backing in March 2016 as the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial & Other Subsidies, Benefits & Services) Bill was passed as a money bill in the budget session of the Parliament. This Act permits the state and central governments to make the Aadhaar card mandatory for availing certain government schemes and benefits under Section 7; and Section 8 enumerates the procedure to be followed by entities collecting the biometric and other information before and while collecting this data from the individual. Although, this Act has received the President’s assent, only a part of it was notified by the central government on 13th July, 2016. This part pertains to provisions on the establishment of Authority; the roles and responsibilities of the Chairman and other members; the powers of central government to issue directions in policy related matters, make rules and regulations for the various processes of the scheme;the use of Aadhaar number by private entities and others to establish identity of an individual, among other things. However, in absence of the entire Act being notified, these provisions are the only ones that are legally enforceable under the Act.

 At present, there are two parallel frameworks that are being used for determining the legality and applicability of Aadhaar; one, the Supreme Court order dated 15th October, 2015 that restricts its voluntary use to six government schemes, and condemns making in mandatory for receiving any benefit or service; second, the provisions under the Aadhaar Act, 2016. With both of them having their separate place, and according separate operational status to this scheme, there have been questions regarding the instruction that should take precedence and be followed in the interim of the pending Supreme Court cases, and the Aadhaar Act being notified. Currently, the operative portion of the Act, Section 7, that enables central and state governments to make it mandatory for availing services and benefits, has not yet been notified by the central government. Even if Section 7 were to be notified, the aforementioned Supreme Court order would have cast the mandatory status of Aadhaar in doubt. However, in light of the lack of legal enforceability of this section, it may be definitively inferred that the Apex Court’s order that makes the use of Aadhaar voluntary, and limits its scope to the six mentioned schemes should be the law of the land.

 Having established that, it is interesting to note that there have been an excessively large number of violations of this Supreme Court order. Multiple state governments and departments made it mandatory to have an Aadhaar card for availing benefits and services like LPG. Moreover, the use of this scheme was not limited to the six government schemes as laid down by the Supreme Court and has been used, and even made mandatory at times for a wide and diverse range of purposes extending from scholarships, banking, registration of fishing boats, filing income tax returns, conducting ultrasounds, to name a few. Incidentally, recently in the monsoon session of the Parliament, the Rajya Sabha witnessed a disruption and subsequent adjournments during the day on 28th July, 2016 over orders being given by various the state governments making Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits like PDS, and LPG. However, the Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs, Venkaiah Naidu reassured the Members of the Upper House that Aadhaar is not mandatory and directions will be issued if necessary to clarify it.

To corroborate the claim made by many in the Rajya Sabha, we undertook the exercise of compiling the reported incidents where the Supreme Court orders dated 11th August and 15th October, 2015 were violated by the governments and private entities.

Aadhaar   Aadhaar Act   K.S. Puttaswamy   supreme court

10343 - Aadhaar Could Disrupt Organ Trafficking - Find Biometrics

Aadhaar Could Disrupt Organ Trafficking

Posted on August 17, 2016

A healthcare scandal in India involving the underground organ market is pushing some officials to consider how the country’s national ID program could be used to prevent such issues.

The incident occurred at Hiranandani Hospital in Maharashtra state. A kidney transplant was arranged between two individuals falsely posing as spouses using a forged marriage certificate. Police stopped the surgery before it could occur, having been tipped off, and the hospital’s CEO and medical superintendent were subsequently arrested for negligence. The arrests have led to protests from doctors arguing that it is not their responsibility to vet fraudulent documents.

The incident has led various transplant centers to consider how such issues can be resolved going forward, such as by cross-checking documents (such as marriage certificates) with the records of their issuing departments. Another option being explored is to see how Aadhaar, India’s biometric ID program, might be used for authentication. As The Hindu reports, the Union Health Ministry’s National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation is actively exploring the option, with one officer attesting that the agency is working with the National Informatics Centre “to see if a biometric-based system can be developed to verify the donor’s identity.”

The program already has well over a billion of India’s citizens registered, and is used in increasingly sensitive authentication applications, as in the case of the country’s emerging biometric ATMs. As real medical need vies against a strong black market for organ transplants, and the country’s doctors grow wary of legal liabilities, Aadhaar authentication could offer a substantial solution going forward.

Sources: The Hindu, The Times of India

10342 - Instant mobile connections with Aadhaar under e-KYC service DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Instant mobile connections with Aadhaar under e-KYC service

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published

Aug 17, 2016, 7:18 pm IST

With the implementation of this process, several problems can be resolved. Customers can acquire SIMs earlier than before.

 Indian mobile users with Aadhaar cards can now skip complex paperwork required to acquire SIM. (Representational image)

Indian mobile users with Aadhaar cards can now skip complex paperwork required to acquire SIM after new guidelines were issued under the government’s electronic-Know Your Customer (e-KYC) initiative on Tuesday.

In a statement released by Department of Telecommunications (DOT), it pointed out that the ‘Aadhaar’ e-KYC would replace the existing PoI/ PoA document based processes. The process would help users in hassle-free acquirement of SIMs.

It said: “In the e-KYC service, customers will online authorise UIDAI through Aadhaar authentication using Aadhaar number and biometrics to provide his/her demographic data, along with his/her photograph to licensees.”

The procedure to acquire mobile connection would become significantly simpler as service providers would be able to provide these services through various mediums including agents, distributors, and employees.

According to reports, Bharti Airtel has planned to roll out the Aadhaar-based e-KYC solution this week. Other companies such as Vodafone India and Idea also plan to rollout the new Aadhaar-based SIM acquisition system in the upcoming weeks.

With the implementation of this process, several problems can be resolved. Customers can acquire SIMs earlier than before. The current process involving documents also cause significant delay at times as the process involved takes time.

The most important benefit of introducing Aadhaar-based process might see an end to selling of illegal SIM cards.

10341 - Rating agencies have a reason to improve India’s rating: Shaktikanta Das - Financial Express

Rating agencies have a reason to improve India’s rating: Shaktikanta Das

With the clutch of reforms undertaken by the Narendra Modi government (easing of foreign investment regulations and use of Aadhaar platform for delivery of subsidies) and the ones that will be put in place soon...

By: Prasanta Sahu | New Delhi | Updated: August 17, 2016 9:49 AM

The finance minister has said in his Budget speech if more capital is required, he will provide it. Banks have the choice of getting out of their non-core businesses. (Source: PTI)

With the clutch of reforms undertaken by the Narendra Modi government (easing of foreign investment regulations and use of Aadhaar platform for delivery of subsidies) and the ones that will be put in place soon (like the goods & services tax and the bankruptcy code), the government strongly feels global rating agencies must consider improving their ratings and outlooks for the country. These agencies accord India the lowest investment grade. If they don’t factor in the recent spate of reforms, they will be missing out on the real India story, economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das tells Prasanta Sahu in an interview. Excerpts:

Will the monetary policy committee (MPC) be in place by September 4 (when RBI governor Raghuram Rajan’s term ends)?

There is a process involved (in the formation of MPC) and that is underway. It has nothing to do with departure of the current (RBI) governor or any such thing. The next (monetary policy) review is due only after two months. We expect that the next policy review will be done by the MPC.

Will a separate railway Budget be done away with from FY18?

The matter is under examination. Several operational aspects will have to be worked out (before putting an end to rail Budget and merging it with the general Budget). The government is yet to take a final decision. But, technically or legally, we don’t see any problem in merging the two budgets. Even today, the railway Budget is part of the annual financial statement attached to the general Budget and this is a constitutional requirement.

Don’t you think the rating agencies should review their India ratings, given the spate of reforms the government has undertaken and the growth forecasts?

We are very clear that international rating agencies should give due weight to India’s reform steps; they usually pay attention to such developments in the developed countries. I think they have to change their mindset and accept and recognise the measures we have taken on the reform front. Which country in the current context has taken as many reform measures as India has over the past year? No country has. If rating agencies don’t recognise these changes, they would indeed be missing out on the real India story. (Before the GST Bill was passed by Parliament recently, Fitch reaffirmed its BBB- rating for India).

The yield on G-secs has been declining. How much has the government saved in terms of interest cost?

We have not quantified the savings. What is important is coming close on the heels of Brexit and the steep volatility in the various global markets, this is reflective of investor confidence on the macro-economic story of India. The Budget has made an outlay of Rs 25,000 crore for public sector bank capitalisation in FY17, but the banks obviously need more.

Do you think these banks should try to monetise their non-core assets?

The finance minister has said in his Budget speech if more capital is required, he will provide it. Banks have the choice of getting out of their non-core businesses. They could also monetise various kinds of assets they are holding.

What is the progress on National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)?

Our interactions with various investors have shown that their interest is more in specific sectors, not in investing in an all-purpose mother fund. Therefore, we are now restructuring and creating some avenues for translating that kind of interest into investments. To begin with, there could be two or three sectoral funds such as on roads and non-conventional energy.

10340 - Narendra Modi steadily improving his reforms scorecard - Live Mint

Last Modified: Wed, Aug 17 2016. 03 55 AM IST

Recent set of reforms are important institutional changes for the long run

Narendra Modi needs to start working on the next set of reforms that may get executed only after 2019. Illustration: Jayachandran/Mint

No Narendra Modi speech is complete without a spattering of alliterative tricks, rhetorical flourishes and strange acronyms that would make a management consultant proud. These are admired and mocked in equal measure.

During his speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Monday, the prime minister said that his mantra was to “reform, perform and transform”. He gave an impressive list of achievements to back his claim. For example, easier access to government services, faster approvals of new business enterprises, reducing the stranglehold of middlemen over the appointment of new entrants into government jobs at the lower levels, less harassment of taxpayers by officials, and much more.

This was Modi at his best. His ability as a good administrator is widely recognized. His personal popularity has also given him the political capital to take tough decisions rather than compulsively pander to electoral populism. All but his worst critics will agree that corruption at the very pinnacle of government has been curtailed. In other words, a lot of the focus has been—in terms of the mantra to reform, perform and transform—on performance.

There has been less confidence about the ability of the Modi government to reform—not to work more efficiently within the existing rules of the game but to actually alter the rules of the game. Yet, the record on this front actually looks far better than six months ago, and has perhaps not been adequately appreciated. Since the beginning of the year, the Modi government has pushed through several landmark changes that can be game-changers.

First, the new monetary policy framework legally binds Indian monetary policy to a formal inflation target. Second, the passage of the Aadhaar Bill creates a unique opportunity to ensure that welfare schemes reach the people they are meant to help. Third, the bankruptcy law deals with what has been called the problem of capitalism without exit. Fourth, the introduction of a goods and services tax will radically overhaul the indirect tax system, make it less distortionary and help create a common market across the country. Fifth, a committee has begun work on a new fiscal law that should reduce the perverse tendency of running a pro-cyclical fiscal policy.

These are significant achievements. Some of them do not fit in with the idea of big-bang reforms that the stock markets love or business interests lobby for. They do not have the sex appeal of a tax cut or an increase in foreign investment limits. What we have seen in recent months are important institutional changes whose impact will be truly felt in the long run. They can alter the dynamics of economic growth, macroeconomic policy and the welfare system.

There is a problem, however. A lot of the preparatory work for these legal reforms began under the previous regime led by Manmohan Singh. The baton was then passed to the current government.

There is nothing wrong in such continuity. Deep institutional change needs long years of work that spans multiple regimes. Even the terms of reference for the 14th Finance Commission were set before Modi became prime minister. The National Democratic Alliance has shown maturity in staying the course, despite some early doubts in the case of Aadhaar.

What now? Modi needs to get his public policy advisers to work on the next set of reforms that may eventually see the light of day only after 2019. These include financial sector reforms, liberalizing the factor markets, getting the education system back on track, deep fiscal reforms that create space for a massive increase in the supply of public goods, and lots more. There is also the need to build state capacity. The groundwork for the road ahead has to begin soon.

How does Modi’s reforms scorecard look today? Tell us at views@livemint.com

Livemint

10340 - Transforming India - Hindu Businessline

Transforming India

The Centre needs to stay focussed on implementing the promises made in the past

The Modi government has been accused in the past of being big on slogans, but not so big on delivery. While slogans do play an important role in conveying a message to the masses, there is a risk of rhetoric overwhelming reality. This is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech came as a refreshing departure from the past. While Modi’s wonted oratorial skills were very much in evidence, the thrust of the speech was less about slogans and more about implementation. This focus on outcomes rather than intentions is welcome. Indeed, outcomes should be the focus of this, or any government. If at all another slogan is needed, it should be ‘Implementation, 

Implementation, Implementation’. For, this administration, more than any that preceded it, will be judged on its implementation record.

There is no denying that the National Democratic Alliance government has speeded up implementation of projects, acted on prices and on the whole taken forward the reforms process set in motion by the preceding governments. More notably, Modi has not only embraced some of the previous government’s schemes such as Aadhaar and the Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, as well as direct transfer of benefits and subsidies, but brought his wonted powers of execution to bear on them, ensuring that what had, with the exception of MNREGS, largely remained merely good ideas were transformed into actions that benefit the poor. Incidentally, some of these projects had been criticised by Modi in the run up to the May 2014 general elections. The fact that not only were these schemes not scrapped, but pursued with vigour, signals a growing maturity in our polity. Reforms are a continuous process, which need some course correction every few years, particularly with changes in economic environment and social circumstances. As the Prime Minister correctly stated in his speech from Red Fort to mark the 70th anniversary of India’s independence, all policies should aim to serve the national interest. And so, it is in the national interest for an incoming government to carry forward a previous government’s scheme after rectifying shortcomings in the scheme.

Over the past two years that it has been in office at the Centre, the NDA government has time and again demonstrated this ability to seize a good idea and implement it fully. It took diesel price deregulation, that had begun during the UPA’s term, to its logical conclusion. Further, the learnings from diesel price deregulation are now being leveraged to reduce the subsidy bill on both kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas. . 

The transformative Jan Dhan Yojana, which has provided access to financial services to millions of poor, or leveraging the potential of Aadhaar, or even getting the better off to surrender LPG subsidy voluntarily and use the money so saved to provide LPG connections to poor rural households, and finally getting the GST Bill moving, are all signal achievements.. The challenge before Modi now is to deliver on his latest slogan: “Reform, perform, transform.”

10339 - Mamata slams PM over Aadhaar issue - The Statesman

Mamata slams PM over Aadhaar issue

SNS

| Kolkata | 17 August, 2016

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday once again hit out at the Centre for making Aadhaar card mandatory to avail a host of benefits though many are yet to possess the cards and asked her party MPs to take up the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

She has asked MPs to seek an appointment with Modi between 20 and 23 August to raise their concern. According to Banerjee, the Aadhaar card issue has raised a serious law and order problem in the state. Trouble erupted this morning when around one lakh people arrived to receive their Aadhaar cards at Uluberia on Tuesday. 

This is a conspiracy hatched by the Centre, she said before leaving Nabanna this evening. Expressing her concern over the issue, Banerjee suggested it would have been better had Aadhaar card been attached with the government-sponsored programmes like Kanyashree.

She alleged that making Aadhaar card mandatory for availing benefits was against a Supreme Court directive. 

The Centre had earlier issued an order on distributing Aadhaar cards by 31 August so that no benefits would be provided to persons without one. But many people are still outside the purview of Aadhaar cards.They would be deprived if the cards are made mandatory. The student community of the state will be hit the most. Of the nine crore population in Bengal, around 2.5 crore would be affected.

Read more at http://www.thestatesman.com/news/bengal/mamata-slams-pm-over-aadhaar-card-issue/160417.html#TvDpKeBLLXHmo6q6.99

10338 - Street children to get Aadhaar cards, bank accounts - The Hindu

HYDERABAD, August 17, 2016

Street children to get Aadhaar cards, bank accounts

Hyderabad has 28,560 of these marginalised citizens as per a survey in January 2016

Children living on the streets without identity papers are likely to get Aadhaar cards as well as bank accounts soon under the RBI-mandated Jan Dhan Yojana. This was disclosed by charity, Save the Children, during the course of a workshop on ‘Vulnerable children and families of displaced communities’ here on Tuesday.

“Sixty per cent of street children have no identity papers. And if they are displaced people or refugees like the Rohingyas in Hyderabad, the children are scared to disclose their identity. We brought this to the notice of National Child Protection Rights Commission and they are studying the feasibility of giving Aadhar cards,” said Bidisha Pillai of Save the Children.

Census

“Hyderabad has 28,560 street children and a majority of them are in the GHMC’s central zone,” informed Alka Singh of Save the Children, releasing the findings of a census of street children in Hyderabad conducted over five months between September 2015 and January 2016.

The statistics reveal the city is not friendly to its marginalised citizens. “A big chunk of the youngsters in the city are migrants from rural Telangana,” said Ms. Singh. About 78.7 per cent of the street children are from Telangana while 12 per cent are from Andhra Pradesh, according to the census.

“Telangana had a super case of disaster where millions were affected without anyone becoming wiser about it. This year we had a slow onset of disaster due to the drought. And what did the government do? We don’t know. Where are the farmers in digital Talangana? Where are the farmers’ children in digital Telangana?” asked Sajit Menon of Save the Children.

Surprisingly, about 66 per cent of street children work and earn money, while 34 per cent of them pursue education in one form or the other.

School at Balapur

“We realised that among the most vulnerable are the children who are displaced due to conflict.

“Hyderabad has Rohingya refugees and many of their children had not seen a school.

“When we brought this to the notice of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan Commissioner, he acted immediately and within 20 days the school started functioning on World Refugee Day on June 20,” informed Ms. Singh.

The school is functional in Balapur where around 100 children spend the day studying and also get a square meal.

The school is run by Save the Children Foundation in tandem with Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

×

10337 - Homeless Children To Get Aadhaar Card, Birth Certificate: Maneka Gandhi - NDTV

Homeless Children To Get Aadhaar Card, Birth Certificate: Maneka Gandhi

Indo-Asian News Service August 17, 2016

Homeless children will now be able to obtain an identity for their future.

Chennai: Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said on Tuesday that homeless children will be given birth certificate and Aadhaar cards.

Speaking at a function organised by Dayaa Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, Gandhi said the Women and Child Development Ministry will start a new initiative for providing birth certificates and Aadhaar cards to homeless children across the country.

She said the initiative will help the homeless children to obtain an identity for their future use to move ahead in life.

Appreciating the NGO’s initiative to set up a citizen council for child safety, Gandhi spoke about the measures taken by the central government for safety, protection and care of children.

She also held regional consultation with the civil society organisations on the draft ‘Trafficking of Persons Bill, 2016’ in which 21 NGOs and the Tamil Nadu government participated.

The NGOs suggested that the time-line for repatriation of trafficked victims should be included in the act itself. Similarly, begging is an important area where trafficking is rampant and should be taken up seriously under the act.

10336 - What’s new in Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech? ‘Middle class’ - Live Mint

Last Modified: Tue, Aug 16 2016. 08 17 AM IST

What’s new in Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech? ‘Middle class’

Used 7 times in Monday’s speech, the phrase middle class was completely absent from Narendra Modi’s earlier Independence Day speeches

Karthik Shashidhar

It is clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s favourite phrase, as far as Independence Day speeches are concerned, is “brothers and sisters”; but this isn’t particularly relevant as there are other phrases which are far more important. Photo: PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address on Monday was his longest ever, with the official copy of the English translation running to 9,367 words. In fact, the length of his Independence Day speeches (measured in English word length) has increased over the last three years.

The most used word (excluding commonly used “stop words” such as “the” and “for”) across the three speeches has been “country”, which has been used a total of 207 times. The next most commonly used word is “India”. Interestingly, while the use of the word “country” has remained high over the years, the use of “India” has fallen drastically in this year’s speech, down to 46 instances, from 70 in 2015.

Click here for enlarge

Table 3 shows the top 10 words Modi has used in his last three Independence Day speeches.

It is evident from the list that most of these words are generic in nature, and don’t convey much about intended policy choices. In order to understand any policy direction or implications of the speech, we should look at the differences between this year’s speech and previous years’ speeches.

Each year, the choice of words used in the speech reflects the policy choices of the government of the day. So what words did the Prime Minister use this year that he didn’t in the last two years?

Table 2 has the list of the words that the Prime Minister used at least five times this year, which he had not used in the last two years.

Again, while some of these words are of a generic nature (impossible, thousands), some others give a definite indication of shifts in the government’s policies. For instance, the word “solar” finds a mention six times, highlighting the emphasis this government has placed on solar energy.

It is interesting to note that the Prime Minister made a mention of terrorism, a topic he had eschewed the last two years, in this year’s speech. It is also interesting to see pulses and Aadhaar, the unique ID number that has become the cornerstone of many of the government’s policies, in the list (to be precise, last year’s speech contained one mention of “Aadhaar”. This year’s speech had seven). There were no mentions of Aadhaar in 2014.

Single words, however, tell only so much of the story while describing a speech. The true indicator of possible policy direction in a speech can be gleaned by looking at phrases.

Table 1 contains the 10 most used phrases across the last three Independence Day speeches. It is clear the PM’s favourite phrase, as far as Independence Day speeches are concerned, is “brothers and sisters”, but this isn’t particularly relevant. There are other phrases which are far more important.

For instance, the phrase “middle class”, used seven times on Monday, was completely absent from Modi’s earlier Independence Day speeches, perhaps highlighting an attempt to reach out to a segment many political parties usually ignore. There were also six mentions of “Guru Gobind Singh Ji” in Monday’s speech, perhaps aimed at next year’s elections in Punjab.

Click here for enlarge

Interestingly, “Team India”, which Modi used 32 times in last year’s speech, was completely absent from this year’s edition. Similarly, “black money”, which was mentioned nine times last year, failed to find a mention this year.

Karthik Shashidhar

10335 - Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech: Claims made by PM correct, but exaggerated - First Post

Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech: Claims made by PM correct, but exaggerated

By FactChecker Team

Accountability, responsibility and efficiency were the keywords in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 70th Independence Day; and the focus, ‘good governance’.

The Prime Minister quoted data to back his government’s claims and got many right, although some exaggerations were evident and a couple missed vital context.

Here are the main facts, checked:

1. Modi right on Air India’s Rs 100 crore operating profit, but it is 0.0023 times airline’s accumulated loss

Modi said: “The PSUs that come up in our country either fall in ditches or tumble or are locked or sold off. This has been the history of PSUs so far. We have tried to bring in a new work-culture. And today, for the first time, I can say with satisfaction that Air India that was notorious, in the past year, we have succeeded in bringing operational profits in its operations.”

Fact: Air India — a brand that encompasses the erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India — has indeed turned an operating profit of Rs 100 crore in financial year 2016, but that is after eight successive years of posting losses since the merger in 2007; and an amount that pales before the national airline’s loss and debt.

The accumulated loss is now more than Rs 44,000 crore ($7.3 billion)–equal to India’s annual health budget–and borrowing has grown to more than Rs 38,000 crore ($6.3 billion), IndiaSpend reported in September 2015.

This is a debt 5.5 times larger than the Rs 7,000 crore that high-profile defaulter Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines owes India’s banks, and many have argued that keeping Air India afloat is throwing good money after bad.

Verdict: Right on fact, misleading on context.

2. More basic savings accounts opened than PM’s statement

Modi said: "21 crore (210 million) people have bank accounts under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. This is not about the government taking credit for it; it is the people’s achievement. I salute the 125 crore citizens for this achievement."

Fact: More than 228 million Jan Dhan bank accounts–basic savings accounts for those without access to banking–have been opened in two years, as financial inclusion, a key Modi agenda gains momentum under the Jan Dhan Yojana, or People’s Wealth Programme.

As many as 24 percent of these accounts still do not have money in them, IndiaSpend reported on 13 August, 2016, down from 46 percent in August 2015.

Prime Minister addressing the nation at the Red Fort on Independence Day. PTI

Modi also spoke about the use of national digital identity system, Aadhaar, as the base of financial inclusion. About one billion Indians (or 81 percent of the population) have been assigned Aadhaar numbers, and more than 230 million bank accounts are linked to Aadhaar. There were 716.7 million Aadhaar-linked beneficiaries for various government programmes, as on 31 March, 2016.

Verdict: Modi was right–and his numbers understated the data.

3. India not the most-preferred destination for foreign investment, ranked 10th globally

Modi said: "India is the most-preferred destination for foreign direct investments."

Fact: India was ranked 10th in foreign direct investment, behind leading economies, such as China, USA and Singapore, according to the World Investment Report 2016.

Verdict: Modi is wrong.

4. Modi exaggerates villages electrified by five percent, solar power capacity by 21 percentage points

Modi said: "Out of 18,000 unelectrified villages (as per Census 2011), more than 10,000 villages have been electrified and I have been told they are with us, watching this celebration of Independence Day."

"In the field of solar power, we have seen an unprecedented growth of 116 percent. We are committed to enhancing use of solar power in the country."

Fact: The Prime Minister appears to have rounded off the figure of 9,481 villages (53 percent of the target of 18,000 from Census 2011 data) electrified as on 30 June, 2016, according to government data. This means 591 fewer villages were electrified than he claimed.

Although India has more villages officially electrified than ever, doubts have been cast on electricity supply to these villages.

In Uttar Pradesh, three of four households get electricity for less than 12 hours a day, FactChecker had reported in November 2015. In Jharkhand, only two percent of electrified households get electricity for 20 or more hours; 81 percent do not get four or more hours’ electricity in the evenings, while 60 percent face three or more days of total blackouts every month.

As for India’s solar power capacity, it increased from 4 giga watts (GW) in June 2015 to 7.8 GW in June 2016–an increase of 95 percent.

Verdict: Modi exaggerated electrification and solar-power data, and it isn’t clear how many “electrified” villages get electricity.

5. Seven percent more villages than Modi stated (70,000) declared free of open defecation, no independent audit

Modi said: "In my first speech, I had asked how there can be such a huge problem of sanitation in our country. We are working to bring in social change; over 70,000 villages are free from open-defecation today."

PM Narendra Modi exaggerated electrification and solar-power data, and it isn’t clear how many “electrified” villages get electricity. PTI

Fact: As many as 74,922 villages are open defecation-free as on August 15, 2016, and all houses in these villages have access to toilets, according to government data.

Swachh Vidyalaya, the Prime Minister’s scheme to provide separate toilets for boys and girls in schools, is not functioning effectively on the ground, despite a claim Modi made in 2015 that every school now had separate toilets for girls. Toilets were found to be non-functional in many schools during FactChecker investigations in September 2015.

Toilets were either in very bad condition or were unusable, according to another investigation by ABP News in May 2016 across several states.

Verdict: Government data corroborates Modi’s claim, but with no independent audit–and evidence to the contrary–success is hard to discern.

6. PM right on 3,763 km of new rail lines in two years

Modi said: “If we take the commissioning of railway lines in previous 10 years–where commissioning means capacity to ply the trains and to finish all the trials–so earlier it was at the rate of 1,500 kilometre in 10 years . But we have made it up to 3,500 kilometre in last 2 years. We are to increase this pace even further.”

Fact: 1,983 km of rail lines were commissioned in 2014-15, and 1,780 km in 2015-16: a total of 3,763 km in two years.

Verdict: Modi is correct. New rail lines have been built at a faster pace.

7. 105 km rural roads built per day by NDA, 85 km per day by UPA

Modi said: “Earlier, 70-75 km of rural roads used to be laid per day. Now we lay up to 100 km of rural roads a day.”

Fact: His claim is right–105 km of roads are added every day, we calculated using government data.

However, 85 km of road length was added during the UPA administration, as opposed to 70-75 km claimed by the Prime Minister.

Verdict: Modi is correct. But he under-estimates the UPA road-building programme.

8. Government appears to be fulfilling pension promise to armed forces

Modi said: “OROP (One Rank One Pension–standardised pensions for armed forces personnel, irrespective of when they retire) was hanging for a long time; we took it head on. More than 35,000 jawans have lost their lives fighting at the border so that we can stay peacefully here; how can we forget them? Therefore, my government tried to resolve the long standing issue of OROP.”

Fact: Modi spoke about OROP in his second Independence Day speech last year. As many as 1.6 million pensioners were paid their first pensions under OROP, as of 31 March 2016.

Verdict: Some hiccups remain, but Modi has the scheme off the ground.

9. 15,000 rail tickets issued per minute in 2014-15, but that is a fall over 2012-13

Modi said: “Now technology is there, but there was a time when the railway ticket in the railways, concerning the common man and the poor was available only two thousand tickets per minute. Those who might have seen it would know how the buffering used to be there, nobody knew when the website would be operational again, but today I have to say with satisfaction that now it is possible to have fifteen thousand tickets per minute.”

Fact: Based on 8,224 million originating passengers in 2014-15, 15,646 tickets were issued per minute. That, however, is a decline from 8,421 million originating passengers in 2012-13 and 16,021 tickets issued per minute, as per railway ministry data.

Verdict: Modi is right on number, but wrong on context.

10334 - Accountant’ Modi must speak as the nation’s PM, not BJP’s: Khurshid - Siasat.com

‘Accountant’ Modi must speak as the nation’s PM, not BJP’s: Khurshid

August 15, 2016 News, Politics 0 Comments

New Delhi: Expressing disappointment at Narendra Modi’s ‘saddening’ Independence Day address, former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid on Monday asserted that the former must realise that he is addressing the nation as everyone’s Prime Minister and not just of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP).

Speaking to ANI here, Khurshid said that the Prime Minister should not use the occasion to discriminate or play petty politics, but to unite the nation.

“On this day you are supposed to carry the nation forward together and the Prime Minister should realise that he is speaking as everyone’s Prime Minister and not just of a particular party,” Khurshid said.

Stating that Prime Minister Modi has simply rattled of fact and figures in his address, the senior Congress leader compared the former to an ‘accountant’, who kept giving a roundup of the monthly achievements of an organisation.

“I’m saddened by hearing him make – what seemed like a speech you make during an election- where ordinary people fight ordinary battles. Lifting the nation above any difference and speaking on behalf of the whole nation is something that he is completely failed,” Khurshid said.

Addressing the nation earlier today after unfurling the National Flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister Modi conveyed his greetings to 125 crore Indians at home and abroad and said that his government is surrounded with aspirations.

The Prime Minister said that his government has made ‘One Rank, One Pension’ a reality and he also highlighted that the government has revived sectors such as BSNL, shipping corporation and Air India.

He also highlighted the revival of 118 stuck projects worth 7.5 lakh crore rupees and on the government’s ambitious ‘Aadhaar’ scheme.

Prime Minister Modi said the government has now connected 70 crore Indians through Aadhaar and social security schemes. (ANI)

10333 - More than 70 govt hospitals to provide online appointment soon - Live Mint

Last Modified: Mon, Aug 15 2016. 01 37 PM IST

More than 70 govt hospitals to provide online appointment soon

Online registration system allows patients to fix an appointment online by sharing their Aadhaar number on the project’s website

Kshitiz Goliya

The system was initially launched in 2014 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, as a pilot project. Photo: HT

New Delhi: Soon patients will not need to wait in queues to meet a doctor. At least 70 government hospitals across the country will soon offer the facility of seeking online appointment for consultation.

Online registration system (ORS), one of the government’s flagship e-governance projects, allows patients to fix an appointment online by simply sharing their Aadhaar number on the project’s website.

The system was initially launched in 2014 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, as a pilot project.

The scheme is now open for all the government hospitals, wherein the hospitals can register themselves on the system and start offering the online appointment service.

As of July, 71 requests have been received from different hospitals all over the country, said Dr. Ajay Kumar, additional secretary, Department of Electronics and IT.

About six-seven lakh out-patient department (OPD) registrations have been done on ORS so far, Kumar added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government last year launched ORS, allowing patients to book an appointment, pay fees, view diagnostic reports and check blood availability on a single online portal.

Patients who make online OPD appointment automatically receive an SMS regarding confirmation of the appointment and also get a reminder about their upcoming visit to the hospital. They also have the option of cancellation.

The application is one of the many services launched under the Prime Minister’s Digital India initiative in July 2015.

The government has also enlisted state agencies to help bring state hospitals on board the platform.

“This is one of the successful applications of National Informatics Center which we have been able to implement across the country and this will become an example for other countries also,” Kumar said.

However, the scheme faces its own set of challenges as government hospitals are already under pressure.

“There are many challenges to this scheme as many people who make appointments don’t turn up,” said a doctor at AIIMS, who declined to be identified.

“Also it is difficult to assign appointments online, when so many poor patients wait outside for treatment here,” said the person.

Kshitiz Goliya

10332 - India moving from isolated to integrated development: PM Narendra Modi in Independence Day 2016 speech - Financial Express

India moving from isolated to integrated development: PM Narendra Modi in Independence Day 2016 speech

Focusing on the mantras of all-round development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day 2016 speech said, "Reform, Perform and Transform - that is the mantra that this government is working with.

By: FE Online | Published: August 15, 2016 9:12 AM

“When the policy is transparent, the intentions are clear, then the zeal to take decisions is all-together different,” said PM Modi. (AP)

Focusing on the mantras of all-round development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day 2016 speech said, “Reform, Perform and Transform – that is the mantra that this government is working with.” “We have to move from isolated to integrated development. We are moving from entitlement to empowerment,” he said. Speaking from the ramparts of Red Fort in Delhi, PM Modi said, “For the good of the country, we will work on all schemes even if they were started by previous governments,”, adding that his government is giving importance to ‘last-man delivery’. 

“We have linked Aadhaar to government schemes. We have removed middle-men and have stopped leakage of subsidies. Now the money that is saved is directly transferred into the accounts of the needy,” the Prime Minister highlighted. “When the policy is transparent, the intentions are clear, then the zeal to take decisions is all-together different,” he said.

Speaking extensively on the need for ‘Surajya’ the Prime Minister said that despite many problems, Indians are capable of achieving the dream of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat’. “It is time to transform from Swarajya to Surajya. This is the dream of 125 crore Indians,” he said. PM Modi went on to say that the basis of ‘Surajya’ should be to make sure that it brings about a positive change in the lives of the common people of the country. 

From railways, roadways to tax reforms, ease of getting passports and Aadhaar card, the Prime Minister spoke of how his government is working to better the lives of Indians.

10331 - Rail tickets, passports, jobs: PM Modi highlights steps taken by his government in Independence Day 2016 speech - Financial Express

Rail tickets, passports, jobs: PM Modi highlights steps taken by his government in Independence Day 2016 speech

Highlighting how his government is moving towards 'Surajya', PM Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech today said, "It is time to transform from Swarajya to Surajya.

By: FE Online | Published: August 15, 2016 8:20 AM

From railways, roadways to tax reforms, ease of getting passports and Aadhaar card, the Prime Minister spoke of how his government is working to better the lives of Indians. (Reuters)

Highlighting how his government is moving towards ‘Surajya’, PM Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech today said, “It is time to transform from Swarajya to Surajya. This is the dream of 125 crore Indians.” “We are working towards bringing about a change in the lives of common people of this country. Today, more than Karya, I want to talk about Karya Sanskriti. 

Surajya, the meaning of this is- a qualitative and positive change in the lives of the citizen of India,” the Prime Minister elaborated. From railways, roadways to tax reforms, ease of getting passports and Aadhaar card, the Prime Minister spoke of how his government is working to better the lives of Indians. We take a look at some of the things he highlighted:

1) Earlier you could only book 2,000 railway tickets online per minute. And even then, the system was slow. Now we have worked to make sure that 15,000 tickets can be booked online in one minute.

2) Two crore people apply for passports, and earlier the system was so complicated that it took anywhere between 4-6 months to get your passport. Now we have brought about transparency and efficiency in the system and it takes 1-2 weeks to get a passport.

LIVE Independence Day 2016: PM Narendra Modi’s speech at the Red Fort: I want to change the lives of common people

3) We want to change the situation where people are scared of income tax authorities, particularly among middle class families. Earlier, people kept running from pillar to post to get their hard earned money. Now the tax system has been transformed in a fashion that you can get your tax refunds within weeks.

4) Under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, 2 crore toilets have been built so far. Now, over 70,000 villages are free from open-defecation

5) 70 crore people now have their Aadhaar cards. And we are working to make sure that everyone comes under it.

6) Last year, I had promised that for Group C and Group D employees, it will be made easier to get a job. Now for 9,000 posts, there will be no interviews. There is no need for a sifarish.

Acknowledging that the country faces problems, PM Modi said, “Yes, we face several problems. But we are capable of overcoming them. If India has many problems, then it also has 125 crore Indians, who are capable of dealing with them,” he said.

10330 - PM says India won’t bow to terror, asks youth to shun violence - Tribune India

Aug 16, 2016, 1:09 PM (IST)

PM says India won’t bow to terror, asks youth to shun violence

Modi addresses the nation on I-Day. PTI

New Delhi, August 15

Declaring that India would not bow before terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked the youth who have taken to violence to join the mainstream even as he brought up Pakistani atrocities on people of Baluchistan and PoK, saying they had thanked him for doing so.

Though Modi did not make any reference to the Kashmir valley which is witnessing violence after the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani, he accused Pakistan of glorifying terrorists and celebrating killings in India. This was an obvious reference to Wani who has been hailed as a martyr by Pakistan.

In his 93-minute Independence Day address to the nation amidst tight security, Modi said, “From the ramparts of the Red Fort, I want to express my gratitude to some people--the people of Baluchistan, Gilgit and Pak-occupied-Kashmir--for the way they whole-heartedly thanked me, the way they expressed gratitude to me, the way they conveyed their goodwill to me recently.”

This is for the first time that the disturbed areas in the control of Pakistan have been mentioned by any Prime Minister during his Independence Day speech. The remarks also come in the backdrop of the recent comments by Modi during an all-party meet on Kashmir that the time had come to expose the atrocities committed “by our neighbouring nation” in Baluchistan and the areas of J&K under its occupation.

The Prime Minister asked the international community to judge the behaviour of India and Pakistan in the context of terror attacks in each other’s country.

“When children were killed in a terror attack on a school in Peshawar (about two years back), there were tears in our Parliament. Indian children were traumatised. This is the example of our humanity. But look at the other side where terrorism is glorified,” Modi said.

Asserting that India would not yield to terrorism and violence, the Prime Minister asked youths to return to the mainstream by shunning the path of violence, comments which are seen as a message to the youth of Kashmir.

“I am telling those youths that there is time left, come back and join the mainstream. Realise your parents’ aspirations. Lead a peaceful life. The path of violence has never benefited anyone,” he said.

Attired in his trademark half-sleeve kurta and sporting a Rajasthani turban, Modi devoted bulk of his address on the 70th Independence Day to presenting in effect a report card of his government’s work, particularly in boosting economic growth, ease of doing business and welfare schemes for the poor and farmers.

During his address, the Prime Minister also made two announcements--an increase of 20 per cent in the pension of freedom fighters and that medical costs of up to Rs 1 lakh for BPL families would be borne by the government.

Modi, who has spoken out against atrocities on Dalits in the recent days, said a strong country could not be built without a strong society which is based on social justice. He advocated a “tough and sensitive” approach to tackle the age-old social evils, including casteism or untouchability.

Asserting that social harmony was the key to the nation’s progress, Modi said, “What Lord Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, Saint Ramanujacharya, BR Ambedkar, all our scriptures, saints and teachers have stressed is social unity. When society breaks, the empire disintegrates. When a society is divided into touchables and untouchables; upper and lower (castes), then such a society cannot last.”

Talking about economic and social sectors, he said he tried to adopt the strategy of “reform, perform and transform” while avoiding populism and asserted that march from self-governance to good governance is a resolve of the entire nation that would need sacrifices.

Hitting out at the UPA government, he said the previous dispensation was shrouded in allegations while his government was surrounded by expectations. “When hope gives rise to expectations, it gives us energy to move faster towards good governance,” he added.

The Prime Minister also gave details of various initiatives undertaken by his government to promote ease of doing business, tackle corruption, provide good health care to poor people and benefits to farmers. PTI

10329 - Stop quibbling, PAHAL has scythed subsidy bill, but glitches remain - First Post

Stop quibbling, PAHAL has scythed subsidy bill, but glitches remain

So, how much money did the government save by implementing direct benefit transfer (DBT) in cooking gas – the PAHAL scheme – in 2015-16? 

Is it Rs 9,211 crore, as the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas claims? 

Or Rs 5,107 crore as the oil marketing companies (OMCs) estimate? 

Or Rs 4,813 crore, as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) suggests in its report on the implementation of the scheme?

Should that matter, really?

It’s not as if the Ministry of Petroleum has caused any loss to the exchequer by quoting the higher figure. It’s really all about how the saving was calculated. The Ministry assumed all those who were not part of PAHAL (and hence not entitled to subsidy) would have consumed 12 cylinders a year; the CAG went by the national average consumption of 6.27 cylinders. The OMCs went by the 6.27 usage figures, but considered the subsidy rate of 2014-15; this threw up a higher level of savings because global oil prices had come down sharply in 2015-16. The CAG estimation corrected both these problems and came to a lower figure. There is nothing more to it.

These quibbles aside, is a saving of Rs 4,813 crore something to be scoffed at?

Yet another figure that is thrown up to belittle the success of PAHAL relates to the contribution of falling oil prices. The CAG report notes that the actual subsidy payout in the April-December 2015 period was Rs 12,084 crore against Rs 35,400 crore in the April-December 2014 period – a reduction of Rs 23,316 crore. But only Rs 1,763 crore of this is due to reduced offtake of cylinders, the report points out; a significant Rs 21,552 crore was on account of reduced subsidy rate due to lower oil prices.

But once again, is a reduction of Rs 1,763 crore in the subsidy bill something to be dismissed as insignificant?

Splitting hairs over the extent of savings on account of PAHAL does not take away from the main point – that PAHAL has scythed the subsidy bill. No more proof of concept is required.

The fiscal savings story may be validated, but the leakage/diversion elimination story, unfortunately, is not.

The CAG report found that the sale of non-subsidised domestic LPG cylinders had shot up after the implementation of PAHAL. 

As many as 8,023 domestic consumers used up more than 24 cylinders a year in 2015-16, more than double of 3,070 consumers who did so in 2014-15. Now since subsidy is available for only 12 cylinders a year and the rest have to be bought at market prices, on the face of it, PAHAL appears to have checked diversion of subsidised cylinders.

But that, according to the CAG report, maybe too pat an explanation. There is still, it points out, quite a large price differential between non-subsidised domestic LPG and LPG for commercial use. A commercial cylinder costs at least Rs 233.20 more than a non-subsidised domestic cylinder. In contrast, the price difference between a subsidised and non-subsidised domestic cylinder is only Rs 99.86. So there could still be a risk of domestic cylinders being diverted for commercial use. The CAG is not going out on a limb and saying this is happening but is red-flagging the issue.

How is this possible, given Aadhaar-based subsidy delivery and weeding out of duplicate accounts, one may well ask?

This is where PAHAL does not seem to have helped. The CAG found multiple LPG connections with the same Aadhaar number or same bank account as well as duplicate connections with the same name and address.

In the case of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), the CAG audit found 1400 LPG connections linked with 700 Aadhaar numbers – a clear case of duplication. Half of these were active consumers. There were also 14,918 consumer IDs lined with 6,614 bank accounts and IFSC numbers. In the case of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), there were 43,323 LPG consumer IDs linked with 21,504 bank accounts and IFSC numbers.  The CAG audit also threw up cases of multiple connections having the same Aadhaar number across different OMCs - 74,180 LPG consumer IDs linked to 37,090 Aadhaar numbers.

Across OMCs, the CAG audit also found 15,885 consumers with the same name and same address (indicating duplicate connections) with 34,729 LPG connections linked to them. As a result of these various kinds of duplications, the audit found that 8,707 consumers across OMCs had availed of subsidy for more than 12 cylinders in 2015-16, though to PAHAL’s credit this is way below the figure of 37,499 consumers who availed of more than 12 subsidised cylinders in 2014-15 (remember that PAHAL kicked off only in November 2014).

The CAG audit also threw up cases of distributors not linking the Aadhaar numbers of consumers with their LPG connection IDs as well as incorrect seeding, 55,407 LPG connections in the names of minors (which is not allowed).

Clearly technology has its limits – it works when humans handling it do it efficiently or without crooked intent; but it is not too intimidating a bar for those determined to game the system. But it could equally be argued that the Aadhar-based de-duplication system has helped bring these discrepancies to light.

The CAG report on PAHAL, far from being a damning indictment of the scheme as detractors would like to portray it, actually shows that it has helped in generating considerable savings. The government now needs to fix the other problems it has highlighted so that the savings – no matter how they are calculated – can be even higher.

10328 - Aadhaar-linked joint accounts pose a new hurdle for MGNREGS wages - Live Mint

Aadhaar-linked joint accounts pose a new hurdle for MGNREGS wages

With banks linking the numbers of only the primary account holder, secondary beneficiaries are not getting paid

According to government estimates, there are 280 million workers under MGNREGS, of which 109.8 million are active workers. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

New Delhi: Payment of wages under the government’s rural job guarantee programme to beneficiaries who hold Aadhaar-linked joint bank accounts, or one that is shared by more than two people, are being held up because of procedural problems.

With banks linking the Aadhaar number of only the primary account holder, other holders of the same bank account are unable to receive payments.

The rural development ministry is unable to credit wage payments to many workers under the Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment guarantee scheme (MGNREGS) since 1 April, when payments to workers moved to the direct benefit transfer (DBT) platform, requiring them to hold an Aadhaar-linked bank account where the money is deposited.

The ministry of rural development has written to the department of financial services in the ministry of finance highlighting this issue, said two government officials familiar with the matter.

According to government estimates, there are 280 million workers under MGNREGS, of which 109.8 million are active workers.

However, these 109.8 million active workers only have 80.7 million bank accounts, as many of the women and the adult children are joint account holders with the male head of the family.

“There are instances where there are two workers who hold a joint account. The banks are saying that we will seed the Aadhaar number into only the name of the main account holder. 

But what about the wives or the adult kids? How will payments be made to them? Joint account is creating a problem. The rural development secretary has written to the department of financial services secretary on this,” said one of the government officials cited above. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.

 

Launched in 2006, the rural employment programme has been a key source of livelihood for millions of rural households. The programme guarantees up to 100 days of unskilled work in a year to every rural household and was credited with raising rural household incomes.

One of the criticisms of the programme, which has been largely lauded for reducing poverty and providing jobs to unskilled labour, is that it has created assets like village ponds that have no durability.

“We have written to the finance ministry and so far, we have not heard from them. Around 12% of all bank accounts under NREGA are such joint accounts. We had a video conference last week with states and urged them to ensure that accounts opened for payments have only one name to avoid problems,” said the second official.

Around 95% of the wage payments are being directly deposited in the bank accounts of beneficiaries.

Most of the areas have been covered under DBT with the exception of Arunachal Pradesh and some districts such as Cooch Behar in West Bengal.

Y.P. Issar, a former banker, said the main purpose of Aadhaar is identification of the beneficiary and facilitating payments.

“One needs to find a practical solution. So far, I have not heard of seeding two Aadhaars with one bank account as the focus of banks till now has been to ensure that every bank account is seeded with Aadhaar,” he said, adding that a better solution may be to ensure that every beneficiary gets an individual bank account.

Remya Nair  Elizabeth Roche

10327 - Ration shops to go fully digital from September - TNN

Ration shops to go fully digital from September

PJ Joychen | TNN | Aug 14, 2016, 06.39 AM IST

Jaipur: The ration shops in the state will be fully digitalised from September. Currently, those beneficiaries who are not seeded into Aadhaar or Bhamashah scheme or those who do not have mobile phones for one-time password (OTP) for verification have the provision of using manual register. 

The food and civil supplies department has issued directives that without point of sale (POS) machine, no ration will be distributed from next month as it is shifting to fully to digital platform.

The directive said those National Food Safety Act (NFSA) beneficiaries whose Bhamashah or Aadhaar seeding has not been done, the name of the beneficiaries will be displayed on POS machine on entering their ration card number. On selecting the name of the any of the members who came to collect the ration would be sufficient to proceed for the delivery using POS machine, said principal secretary, food and civil supplies, Subodh Agarwal.

It said those NFSA beneficiaries whose seeding with the Bhamashah or Aadhaar card but those fingerprints are not matching despite attempting thrice or those families who do not have a mobile number to identify by generation of one time pass word, then the ration given to them could be entered offline in to the POS machine but no manual entry allowed.

This has been a burning issue as no alternative other than manual register was available till now when the figure print identification and one time pass word system are not working in the rural areas. Social organizations and NGOs have been pointing out that the blurring of the figure print of labourers and no mobile phone to some beneficiaries has been a problem for the people to get their share of ration. It has been a road block to digitization.Finally, the food and civil supplies department has come out with a solution to fully digitalize the ration distribution system. Earlier, in such cases it had allowed the ration shop owner to use manual register as a last resort.

The department has also developed an 'e-PDS-software' for the allotment of foodgrains to ration shops for stock taking and also monitor each and every beneficiary of the PDS from a control room in Jaipur.

10326 - Soon, Aadhaar enrolment on the doorstep of the bedridden - THE HINDU

KOZHIKODE, August 13, 2016

Soon, Aadhaar enrolment on the doorstep of the bedridden

The district administration is planning to conduct a door-to-door Aadhaar enrolment drive with a mission to bring all bedridden and physically challenged persons under the Aadhaar network. To begin with, a preliminary survey will be carried out in all the grama panchayats in the district to identify the total number of beneficiaries.

Assistant Collector R. Imbasekharan will coordinate the project as per the instructions issued by the Union and the State governments. The Assistant Collector has already held a review meeting with the government officers in-charge of the implementation of the project.

Along with the families of the bedridden persons, their neighbours are also encouraged to pass the service request through the ward member or the corporation councillor to the local body concerned within August 20. The local bodies will have to submit the collected details to the district administration within August 25 to make the necessary arrangements.

Officials confirm that all bedridden persons will be provided service on their doorstep to complete the enrolment formalities with the support of the local Akshaya centres. The mission is to cover all such citizens within a month and ensure them all the eligible benefits from the Union and the State governments, they add.

The project coordinators make it clear that the Aadhaar enrolment is a basic requisite to benefit from various government grants and welfare pension schemes. As most of such funds are now directly credited to the bank account of the beneficiaries, the linkage of such accounts with Aadhaar number is an unavoidable requirement, they say.