7002 - Niti Commission likely to be new plan panel - Hindustan Times

Niti Commission likely to be new plan panel

Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times  

New Delhi, November 29, 2014

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a meeting of all chief ministers and chief secretaries on December 7 to discuss the framework of the proposed Policy Commission (Niti Aayog) — a new body that could replace the scrapped planning commission.

Besides the policy panel, new mechanisms to improve Centre-state coordination for effective utilisation of central funds — worth Rs. 3,00,000 crore in 2014-15 — will also be discussed. This is Modi’s first meeting with all the CMs.

At the core of these talks will be the use of unique identification number or Aadhaar, which will be handled by the new body, for “outcome”-based programme implementation, senior government sources told HT.

This is said to be the logic behind the proposal to put both the Unique Identification Authority of India, an attached office of the plan panel, and the Direct Benefit Transfer programme, presently anchored in the finance ministry, under the new body.

The Centre plans to enroll all eligible into Aadhaar by March 2015.

The Niti Aayog will also be the secretariat for the inter-state council -- a body to discuss Centre-state issues. The council, under the home ministry, rarely met under UPA rule but was a regular feature under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-government.

Official sources said the key function of the plan panel -- preparation of new plans and its evaluation -- will be retained in the new body. But, it will lose its fund disbursement powers, which has already been given to the finance ministry. 

The new body will have four wings for better policy implementation. Instead of one planning secretary, sources said, the new body will have four secretaries -- each handling one of the four divisions: Inter-state council, plan evaluation, UIDAI and DBT. Each division will have experts from both inside and outside Centre or state governments, sources added.

While the Prime Minister will head the policy commission, a vice-chairman will be the real executive head to firm up long and short term perspective plans. The panel is likely to have some members to assist the vice-chairman.

6085 - Inter-state council, planning and monitoring division & UIDAI to merge to replace plan panel - Economic Times

Inter-state council, planning and monitoring division & UIDAI to merge to replace plan panel

Yogima Sharma, ET Bureau Nov 26, 2014, 07.04AM IST

NEW DELHI: The new institution that will replace the Planning Commission is likely to be a combination of three key divisions, each headed by a secretary and placed under the umbrella of a more powerful planning ministry. These divisions include the inter-state council, planning and monitoring division and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which, along with direct benefit transfer or DBT will have a critical role in implementing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision.

Senior government officials told ET that the government is considering consolidation of these divisions under the ministry of planning, presently headed by a minister of state with independent charge Rao Inderjit Singh, and a decision to this effect could be taken before the end of this year.

"The PM is of the view that the states should play a greater role in planning and hence the proposal is to move the inter-state council from home ministry to Yojana Bhawan to oversee development works of the state," an official said.

Besides, the new government is keen on eventually linking Aadhaar with DBT platform, which will require greater synergy between the two, the official said, adding, "Hence, it has been decided to shift out DBT from finance ministry to the new institution." According to the official, who did not wish to be named, the third vertical or division will be a new one that will be responsible for long-term planning for the country as well as evaluation of flagship social sector schemes through an existing but much stronger programme evaluation organisation existing within the commission.

"While all the three divisions will be headed by a secretary, the government may rope in experts at the advisor level to strengthen the planning and monitoring division," the official added.

As per the proposal, the interstate council, which is headed by the prime minister, will be responsible for routing the state plans to finance ministry besides coordinating with central ministries on all developmental schemes of the states. However, the security issues that were being handled by the council will continue to be vested with the home ministry.

An email query sent to planning secretary Sindhushree Khullar did not elicit any response. Until last year, annual plans of the states were finalised by the Planning Commission after consultation with the finance ministry and the funds were routed through the commission. However, since the BJP-led NDA government, which took charge in May, decided to replace the institution with a new one, the work of allocation of funds to states has been moved to the finance ministry.

The UIDAI, which is an attached office of the Planning Commission, is responsible for generating Aadhaar or a unique identity for all by March 2015. Once the target is achieved, the government is thinking of making Aadhaar mandatory for doling out benefits under its social security schemes through a DBT platform and hence it has decided to move DBT out of finance ministry to the commission for better synergy and coordination between the two.

5843 - 60% of plan panel staff to be posted in ministries - Hindustan Times

60% of plan panel staff to be posted in ministries

Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, September 04, 2014

Taking first major steps to scrap the Planning Commission, the government would be posting about 60% of the panel employees in different ministries and the Independent Evaluation Office that suo-motto recommended scrapping of the Planning Commission would be wounded up.
 
IEO’s director general Ajay Chibber was sacked last Friday and the remaining staff in the organisation will have to go back to their parent departments, sources said, adding that the few consultants hired would be provided an option to work with different departments.

The evaluation office was an attached office of the panel and was set up in October 2013. However, its recommendation to scrap the panel had not gone down well with the panel officials who termed it breach of its terms of reference. The panel also told the Prime Minister’s Office which okayed Chibber’s sacking that there was already a project evaluation wing in the commission called Project Evaluation Office (PEO) and therefore the IEO was not required.

The government sources said that another important attached office of the panel the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is likely to be brought under the administrative control of the Information Technology ministry headed by Ravi Shankar Prasad once the panel is fully dismantled. 

However, the PMO would monitor Aadhaar enrollment and its other functions.

Similarly, the Rainfed Authority would report to the agriculture ministry and Institute of Applied Manpower Research to the Labour Ministry. “The idea is that these bodies should be under domain ministries,” a source said.

The government has found a solution to the biggest hurdle in dismantling the panel --- its 1,000 employees. Over 60% of them would be posted in different departments and remaining would work under the proposed multi-member think tank whose final shape is yet to be decided.

Official sources said that those in the state plan and proposal appraisal divisions would report to the Expenditure Department of the Finance Ministry, which has been given the job to allocate funds to the state governments. Those dealing with ministries would be posted with these ministries.

“Some of the remaining domain experts and old hands in the commission would work with the new think tank,” a senior government functionary said, adding that a Cabinet note for the same has been circulated.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced scrapping of the Planning Commission in his Independence Day speech and had sought people’s suggestions on the framework of the new body.

5832 - Government decides the structure of the new entity that will replace Planning Commission - Economic Times

Government decides the structure of the new entity that will replace Planning Commission

By Gaurie Dwivedi, ET Now | 2 Sep, 2014, 12.59AM IST

Ending months of speculation. the Government has decided the shape and contours of the new entity that will replace the 62-year old Planning Commission. According to a Cabinet note Circulated by the Govt, the two key divisions of the PlanComm-the Expenditure Department - which decides on the all-powerful function of allocating funds to ministries - and Technical Department will be removed.

As per the note, the State Division will be merged with the newly-constituted Expenditure Committee within the Finance Ministry. The move will give sweeping powers to the Finance Ministry.

The Technical Division, which provides specialised domain expertise on 35 subjects will be merged with respective ministries dealing with them. Removing these two divisions will reduce the Commission's staff strength of 1200 people by 60 percent. The remaining 480 people will continue to provide secretarial assistance to the Government.

The note also makes a case for dismantling the attached offices of PlanComm- including the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council(PMEAC). The PMEAC was considered to be one of the most crucial decision makers in the ManMohan Singh led UPA2 government.

The note makes a case for unbundling of Unique Identification Development Authority of India( UIDAI) from the Commission. UIDAI- was set up under Nandan Nilekani to provide Aadhaar cards to all Indians- will be carved into a separate entity with a separate law.

The new entity- which is yet to be named- will be restricted to only a few areas including providing long term vision and planning for the country. The new entity will also be entrusted with the role of ensuring coordination between the various ministries and effective implementation of Govt schemes.

The Prime Minister's Office will soon take a call on the proposal that will revamp the Planning Commission- something that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been insisting on ever since he assumed office 100 days back.

4439 - Rs 27 per day: India's new rural poverty line

Rs 27 per day: India's new rural poverty line

2 Comments

Date:Jul 23, 2013

New poverty estimate claims fastest ever decline in poverty during UPA's regime

There were 326 million poor in 2004-05; in 2011-12 the number fell to 216 million, registering a decline of 110 million, says Planning Commission 

(Photo: Surya Sen)

The Planning Commission has declared the new poverty line for rural and urban areas. It is Rs 27 a day for rural areas and Rs 30 a day for urban areas.

Just a year ago when the Commission suggested a poverty line of Rs 22 a day for rural areas, there was a national outrage over it. Subsequently, government scrapped the poverty estimate based on a survey carried out in 2009. The current estimate is based on survey carried out in 2011-12.

269 million Indians are poor

According to the new estimate, some 216.5 million people in rural areas are poor while 52.8 million in urban areas are poor. This means out of the country's total population, 269 million people survive on Rs 27-30 a day.

Going by the press note released on Tuesday by the Planning Commission, poverty level has shown steepest ever fall in recent history. Since 2004-05, coinciding with the UPA's ascent to power, 138 million people have escaped the poverty trap. In rural areas the dip in poverty is stark: there were 326 million poor in 2004-05; in 2011-12 the number fell to 216 million—a decline of 110 million.

The political message in the new estimate is hard to miss. “It can be concluded that the rate of decline in the poverty ratio during the most recent seven-year period—2004-05 to 2011-12—was about three times of that experienced in the 11-year period between 1993-94 and 2004-05,” says the report. The earlier period of comparison coincides with the Opposition BJP's tenure in government.

Poorest states

Chhattisgarh is the poorest state in the country with close to 40 per cent of its population being below the poverty line.  However, the geography of poverty remains the same. Seven states – Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – account for 61 per cent of India's total poor. These states traditionally host India's poorest.

2607 - ‘RGI data enough for Aadhaar’ - Deccan Herald

‘RGI data enough for Aadhaar’

New Delhi, June 7, 2012,DHNS

UIDAI criticised for ignoring Cabinet order

The Cabinet on Thursday decided that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) shall issue Aadhar or unique ID numbers (UID) to citizens based on the biometric data generated by the Registrar General of India (RGI).

To avoid duplication and other glitches, Chidambaram wanted the UIDAI to use the biometric data from RGI, which UIDAI had opposed.

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee too wrote to the chief ministers of 16 states and union territories on Thursday regarding the rollout of Aadhaar-enabled payments to beneficiaries of various Central Government Schemes.

Aadhaar platform is now ready to support payments under various schemes directly to the beneficiaries’ accounts in select areas, Mukherjee said.

Chidambaram had said that the National Population Register (NPR) project of RGI was “almost at a standstill” due to UIDAI’s disregard for its data.

Nilekani, who came to North Block to meet Chidambaram, refused to comment on the government’s decision. “I have come to meet [him] on a personal issue. I don’t want to comment on his letter,” he said.

"The collection of photographs and biometrics has been facing hurdles at every step on account of the approach of the UIDAI, which, it seems, has failed to appreciate the core purpose of the NPR," Chidambaram had complained in his letter.

He also criticised the UIDAI for showing scant regard to the Cabinet order. "Despite orders from the cabinet, the UIDAI is objecting to the conduct of NPR camps in certain states and is also refusing to accept the biometric data of NPR for de-duplication and generation of Aadhaar numbers," he said.

At loggerheads


The Planning Commission, under which comes UIDAI, and the Home Ministry have been at loggerheads since the government decided to give Aadhaar numbers to citizens. Earlier too, Chidambaram had complained to PM in writing on the non-cooperative attitude of UIDAI. It was only after PM’s intervention did the Planning Commission and UIDAI agree to take RGI data. Chidambaram said he had taken up the issue with Nilekani, while Home Secretary.

2421- Rs 300 Crore Aadhaar Contract for Reliance-HCL consortium - e Gov

http://egov.eletsonline.com/2012/03/rs-300-crore-aadhaar-contract-for-reliance-hcl-consortium/

Telecom services provider Reliance Communications (RCom), in a consortium led by IT firm HCL Infosystems, is believed to have bagged the Rs 300 crore network and subscriber contract for government’s national identity card programme, Aadhaar.

According to sources, Anil Ambani-led RCom has won the number repository and IT infrastructure contract for Aadhaar as part of a consortium led by HCL Infosystems.

Value of the contract carried out by RCom is expected to be in the range of Rs 200 crore to Rs 300 crore, sources said. RCom will provide network and telecom support for Aadhar, they added.

Unique identification project, Aadhar, was initially conceived by the Planning Commission as an initiative to provide identification for each resident across the country and use it as a basis for efficient delivery of welfare services.

The UID number is also envisaged to act as a tool for effective monitoring of various programs and schemes of the Government.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) would start enrolling 40 crore people for issuance of Aadhaar numbers in April, its Chairman Nandan M Nilekani said last week.

“We will restart enrollment of about 40 crore in April”, he told reporters in response to questions. “We will do (enrollment of) about two crore a month”. UIDAI has enrolled 20 crore people so far, of which 13.5 crore have already been issued Aadhaar numbers, while the process is on to clear the backlog vis-a-vis the remaining 6.5 crore people

2006 - 'Process for handling of Aadhar files by PlanComm streamlined' - Hindustan Times

Press Trust Of India

New Delhi, November 23, 2011

First Published: 15:22 IST(23/11/2011)

Last Updated: 15:24 IST(23/11/2011)

The process for handling of files related to the 'Aadhar' unique identification project by the Planning Commission has been streamlined in consultation with the finance ministry, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, minister of state for planning Ashwani Kumar said the plan panel had taken up the issue of streamlining of processes for handling of files from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) - which oversees the smart ID card project - in the Planning Commission with the department of expenditure.
The UIDAI is an attached office of the Planning Commission.
"The Planning Commission had also pointed out that the financial adviser in the UIDAI has been assigned several administrative responsibilities along with her function as financial adviser," Kumar said.
He added that the Plan panel had indicated that such an arrangement would take away the benefit of an independent scrutiny of proposals involving the use of public funds by an "arm's length" financial adviser.
"These matters have been resolved and processes have been streamlined as per the existing government procedures," Kumar said.
The minister said that an expenditure of Rs 3,170.32 crore has been approved under the first two phases of the UIDAI's 'Aadhaar' unique identification card scheme by the Expenditure Finance Committee.
The second phase of the project is slated to conclude this fiscal and the third phase will start from 2012-13.
"The Expenditure Finance Committee has recommended Rs 8,814.75 crore for Phase-III... The proposal would be brought before the Cabinet Committee on UIDAI in due course," Kumar said.
In reply to another question in the Lok Sabha, the minister said enrollment under the UIDAI is on track as per targets and 6.73 crore Aadhaar numbers were generated till November 15.
"At present, the UIDAI has set the target of 60 crore enrollments by 2014, out of which 20 crore enrollments are expected to be completed by March, 2012," Kumar said.

2005 - UID-home ministry dispute in PM's court - Hindustan Times

Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times

Email Author

New Delhi, November 23, 2011

First Published: 20:43 IST(23/11/2011)

Last Updated: 21:40 IST(24/11/2011)

The Planning Commission has brushed aside concerns of the home ministry that enrolment of residents by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will be an "internal security" risk terming it "unrealistic" and has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take a final call.


The plan panel has sent a detailed note to the Prime Minister's Office on why UIDAI is important for India because of its linkage with delivery of developmental schemes unlike home ministry's National Population Register (NPR) aimed at providing identity cards to residents.


In an over 100 page note, the panel had also said that Nandan Nilekani headed UIDAI enrolment process was inclusive and aims at bringing every resident under the unique identification or Aadhaar number regime.


"All residents may not get enrolled for Aadhaar if the National Population Register protocol is followed," a senior plan panel functionary said.


The NPR protocol stipulates receiving objections of those seeking enrolment and verification by local revenue department official. "Persons aggrieved by such order have a right of appeal to the Tehsildar and then to the District Collector," says the website of Census commissioner. Once this process is over, the lists will be placed in the Gram Sabha in villages and the Ward Committee in towns.


UIDAI adopts easier approach of issuing Aadhaar numbers to those who have any of the listed documents to prove identity or is introduced by a person already having an Aadhaar number.


Home minister P Chidambaram, who has also sent his comments on plan panel's note to the PMO earlier this month, had described the UIDAI process as internal security threat as it does not follow rigid enrolment protocol prescribed under the Citizens Act of 1955.


Plan panel deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia do not agree with the contention and has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to suggest changes in the law to provide statutory backing to UIDAI" enrolment process.


PM Singh had reportedly asked Ahluwalia and Chidambaram to have informal talks with each other on their differences over future of UIDAI.


The home ministry wants that after March 2012 only NPR should be allowed to enroll residents for an Aadhaar number and UIDAI should act as its backend office. Ahluwalia, however, wants both the organsiations to enroll in close coordination with each other.


The plan panel officials say the issue will be sorted out by the PM before the Union Cabinet takes a final call.

2004 - Plan panel: UID beneficiaries should pay for enrolments - Live Mint

Posted: Wed, Nov 23 2011. 12:38 AM IST

The suggestion has been made in a note to the cabinet committee on UID project headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Surabhi Agarwal & Sangeeta Singh

New Delhi: The Planning Commission has recommended that the unique identity (UID) programme’s beneficiaries such as public sector banks, insurance companies, state governments and welfare programmes pay for the enrolment of people since the benefits to them will outstrip the costs incurred.
The suggestion has been made in a note to the cabinet committee on UID project headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The issue is likely to be discussed in the cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday

Identity charges: UIDAI currently pays R

s.

 50 per enrolment to registrars and spends another R

s.

25 on dispatching the letters to residents

This is one of the four ways suggested by the Plan panel to arrive at a compromise between UID and the National Population Register (NPR) of the Registrar General of India (RGI), which have been locking horns over the issue of who will collect the biometric data of residents.

The Planning Commission’s recommendation was confirmed by two senior government officials but neither of them wanted to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) currently pays Rs. 50 per enrolment to its registrars and spends another Rs. 25 on dispatching the letters to residents.
Currently, UIDAI has a grant that entitles it to collect biometrics of 200 million people after which NPR is supposed to take over. UIDAI has already registered around 120 million people in its system and expects to complete the rest in the next two-three months. On the other hand, considering that NPR has only enrolled around 7.5 million so far, the Planning Commission has approached the cabinet to take a call on the matter.


“I don’t think UIDAI should stop its work now that it has already crossed an important milestone. I also don’t think there’s an issue of NPR’s data being secure and UID’s being not reliable as both of the projects don’t give proof of citizenship in any case,” said the first official cited above.
This option of UIDAI continuing with its multi-registrar model of enrolment without funding (where other agencies pay for it) could ensure that the project is not stalled after it touches 200 million and will avoid duplication of government spending on both projects, which are on similar lines. The UID programme is also known as Aadhaar.

“Projects such as (MG)NREGA (the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) benefit significantly from UID as it reduces leakages,” said the same official. MGNREGA has a budget of Rs. 40,000 crore and it can easily pay some of this for getting its beneficiaries enrolled, the person said.
The second government official cited the method by which the income-tax Permanent Account Number (PAN) is assigned. The National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) has permission from the revenue department to charge a small fee for doing so.
Another proposal made in the note talks about NPR becoming the sole biometric collection agency in the country for any kind of government project. Currently, there are several states that are collecting biometrics for various projects across the country. The idea behind this suggestion is to ensure that biometrics collected by NPR are used by multiple agencies.
Another proposal reiterated a previous suggestion to share data between NPR and UID. RGI is opposed to this, doubting the authenticity of the biometrics collected by UIDAI.
“NPR has been given a process by the government; unless the process is changed, we are duty-bound to follow it,” said a government official close to the NPR project who did not want to be identified. NPR has much higher levels of security, he said. “We are very firm that any data which has not been authenticated will not be accepted in the NPR.”
Even though RGI and home minister P. Chidambaramhave repeatedly raised concerns about the reliability of UID data, they have specifically mandated in their tender document that biometric collection agencies “empanelled by Aadhaar” will qualify for NPR.

Meanwhile, UIDAI has maintained that it is following best practices while enrolling residents.
The fourth recommendation says that NPR should not collect biometrics as UID is already fulfilling the mandate. Former chief statistician of India and currently principal adviser to the Planning Commission, Pronab Sen, said, “The question is what is the division of labour between the two projects. The whole argument should not be about one-time registration of the people but about maintaining it as well in the future.”
surabhi.a@livemint.com

1784 - Four options before Cabinet to resolve Aadhaar enrolment - Hindustan Times

Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
New Delhi, November 10, 2011

The Planning Commission has proposed out four options including amending the law to allow Nandan Nilekani headed Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to enroll beyond its present mandate of 200 million and end differences between the authority and the Home Ministry.

The ministrys Census commissioner had claimed that allowing UIDAI to collect biometric details would result in duplication of work as only it was authorized under the Citizenship Act of 1955 to collect the demographic information for creation of the National Population Register (NPR) of all residents.

The UIDAI had countered the claim saying that a Cabinet committee in 2008 had asked both organizations to work in coordination so that biometric details collected by either of them can be used by other.

The Census commissioner had refused to accept UIDAIs biometric data terming it unreliable in absence of verification of those enrolled. The NPR protocol details the process for verification through a public notice. The UIDAI enrolls residents on basis of prescribed documents and if introduced by a person having an Aadhaar number.

This issue remained unresolved at a meeting of a finance ministry committee, which restricted UIDAIs enrollment to 200 million people by March 2012, and left the final decision for the Cabinet.

Now, the plan panel has prepared a note for the Cabinets consideration with four options ---- amendment of the law to allow the commissioner and UIDAI to enroll, stop UIDAI from enrollment beyond 200 million, allow only commissioner to enroll and allow commissioner plus other government agencies such as banks to enroll. 

But, the plan panel believes that allowing only the commissioner to enroll would delay linking government welfare schemes with unique identification (UID) or Aadhaar numbers.

The pace of enrolment of collection of bio-metric data by the Census commissioner has been very slow, a senior plan panel functionary told HT.

The government wants direct cash transfer of subsidies through Aadhaar based information technology platform for food, kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas by end of 2012. It also intends to link disbursement of wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to Aadhaar linked bank accounts.

The government is already working on a set of recommendations made by Nilekani committee on Aadhaar-linked welfare measures to prevent leakages and to have bigger impact for socially and economically backward classes. Checking leakages will reduce the governments subsidy burden, a panel official said.

Top panel sources said panel deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia wants to push for amendment of the citizenship law to fasten the enrolment process but is expected to face resistance from the Home Ministry, which does not want any tampering with the law.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/767431.aspx
© Copyright © 2011 HT Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.

1683 - 'NREGA 2.0 seeks to make work a legal guarantee' - Mihir Shah, Planning Commission- Business Standard

Q&A: Mihir Shah, Planning Commission

Sreelatha Menon 

New Delhi October 9, 2011, 0:36 IST

Mihir Shah, member of the Planning Commission and chairman of the committee to redraft rules and guidelines of NREGA, tells Sreelatha Menon that the Act may also cover farm labourers.

The consortium of NGOs that recommended changes in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was founded by you, but your suggestions have been criticised. You seem to consider it a lack of demand rather than a supply problem.

First, you should recognise that NREGA is a historic break from the past, from the relief programme mode. Earlier, one got work when the government chose to make it available. NREGA seeks to make work a legal guarantee. But, even in the last five years under the Act, it was not demand-driven. It was still top down. The first change that should be brought about is capturing demand. There is no system to record demand. We have suggested multiple channels and agencies (all approved by the gram sabha) who would record demand and give dated receipts to job-seekers.

But why would states agree to this, as they have to pay an unemployment allowance when they don’t have the capacity to provide work?

The committee is redrafting the rules and guidelines under NREGA, so that the entire system gears up to respond to demand. The insistence that states pay an unemployment allowance will also push them to respond.
 

What if states give a day’s work to escape compensation? How will it help?
The reforms under NREGA 2.0 will enable states to develop an adequate shelf of work, ensuring they respond effectively to demand. I do not fear there will be this kind of tokenism.

How would you help states gear up to demand?
The key to this is the labour budget exercise. At present, there is no predictability in either the timing or the quantum of work available in a village; nor are potential NREGA workers made aware of this. Unless we assure these, it is all futile. No one would come for work and people would continue to migrate. We plan to engage the best institutions to do a baseline survey of NREGA households, to find out how much work is need and when. In accordance with this, the shelf of work will be prepared.

The gram panchayat is expected to plan for itself but it has no expertise.

Lack of a participatory planning process has been a key weakness in NREGA. Work has to be done on the basis of decisions taken by the people in the gram sabha. It has to be a participatory micro-planning exercise. The power of NREGA lies in the fact that if the gram panchayat makes a plan, then the block cannot decline it. But this is not happening right now. NREGA is about strengthening democracy at the grass roots. We have not devolved functionaries to the grass root level.

So, how will devolution happen now?
We will divide each block into clusters of gram panchayats. There would be a multi-disciplinary team of experts, including a social work graduate to attend to the needs of these clusters and who would be accountable to the gram panchayat. We would focus on the 2,000 most backward blocks of the country, including those with a high proportion of SC/ST and those vulnerable to Maoist violence. The Planning Commission is preparing a list of these blocks. The idea is not to spread the resources too thin and focus on areas where the need is greatest.

But the programme is having problems across the country with respect to delays in wages and lack of manpower.
Delays in payments is another key weakness of NREGA so far. If we don’t fix it, NREGA has only a bleak future. There is a multi-pronged strategy to tackle this. We will prepare a whole army of local barefoot engineers who will measure the work done in time. We will run two-month courses for capacity-building of these para-workers. The Centre will pay for this either through the six per cent administrative cost or deploy additional funds. The second intervention would be through IT infrastructure. We want a transaction-based management information system such as in Andhra Pradesh, which captures delays real-time and helps reduce these.

The focus on water conservation in NREGA does not help water surplus states such as Bihar or Bengal.
In flood-prone areas, the key NREGA intervention is to strengthen local drainage systems and traditional systems such as Ahar-Pyne in Bihar.

The quality of assets has been questioned with respect to their benefit to the main source of livelihood in villages — agriculture. NREGA is totally cut off from agriculture. How does it become relevant?

The main indicator of success of NREGA, in my view, is when it raises the productivity of the lands of small and marginal farmers. I call it the multiplier-accelerator synergy. Not many people know that a vast majority of NREGA workers are small and marginal farmers who are forced to seek work because the productivity of their farms has been decimated over the years. As water harvesting structures, wells, farm bunds and composting happens on these farms through NREGA, these people are able to return to farming and explore allied livelihoods.

How is that?
The water infrastructure built under NREGA has made fisheries possible. Dairies became possible because the Act provides water for fodder. Without water infrastructure, you cannot practise value-added agriculture.

But farmers have been asking for more from NREGA. They want it to provide for sowing and harvesting, as well.
We believe activities such as creating assets like compost pits and livestock sheds can be included in the list of works. States have been asked to give a list of works that they want to be introduced. We can consider location-specific flexibility in norms. If work can be defined and the period can be specified, there can be flexibility. But the fundamental principle is NREGA must be an additionality. It can’t eat into existing employment opportunities.

So, there is a possibility in a limited way that NREGA may be used for farm labour?
Only on the terms I just spelt out.
 

The Planning Commission has been knocking its head with unique identification (UID) scheme on various issues. Why weren’t these issues settled in the beginning?

My major concern on UID, which I conveyed in a recent meeting with Mr Nandan Nilekani and Mr Jairam Ramesh, is it should not become an instrument of exclusion. If my workers under NREGA don’t get UID and we make it mandatory for them, it is tantamount to excluding them. We are telling the UIDAI that it can derive legitimacy from NREGA only if it addresses NREGA workers immediately. If they can, for example, saturate all rural households in our 2,000 blocks, we can consider using UID-enabled bank accounts for transfer of funds to NREGA workers. But if this does not happen, there is no way rural development departments can insist on UID numbers for NREGA workers. If they get excluded, there is a multiplication of exclusion of the poor.

On the poverty line, the Planning Commission has now put the burden on the socio-economic and caste census (SECC). But states like Bihar still oppose it as it counts families and not individuals. They oppose the food Bill on the same account. What do you think? 

Individual entitlements and eligibility under government schemes will not any more be linked to the poverty line, and will not be subject to arbitrary caps. This is the first Planning Commission to take such a step, since caps were introduced about two decades ago. The SECC is based on Amartya Sen’s “capabilities-opportunities” framework. The SECC data on indicators of deprivation will help identify beneficiaries for various government programmes.

Do you think there would be a national commission for a BPL census. Or, will it fail to be finalised in January with opposition from other states?

I am confident that with this clarification, all opposition to SECC will cease. But there is a major challenge still ahead of us — of making SECC a success on the ground. SECC is not a magic wand. In a caste- and class-divided society, there is a real danger of this being hijacked by local elites. We need strong partnerships between the Centre and the states, as also civil society organisations, academia and media to make every effort to closely monitor and ensure success of SECC.

1638 - Planning Commission wants Nandan Nilekani-led UIDAI to be monitored - Economic Times

28 SEP, 2011, 02.13AM IST, 

VIKAS DHOOT & DEVIKA BANERJI,ET BUREAU

NEW DELHI: The Planning Commission has raised questions about the administrative structure of the Nandan Nilekani-led Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) and called for the appointment of an independent financial advisor to monitor its finances and transactions, days after the finance ministry rejected the authority's Rs 15,000 crore funding proposal.

"The UIDAI's present system represents a major departure from government procedures and removes all inbuilt checks and balances. We need a relook at the UIDAI's administrative structure," the commission wrote in a letter to the finance ministry in the third week of September.

The commission has pointed out that though the UIDAI was set up as its 'attached office' in January 2009 and derives its budget from the ministry of planning, it has never got to examine any of the authority's financial proposals till date. It says the cabinet and expenditure proposals of the UIDAI need to 'normally be seen' by its secretary and financial advisor.

"But neither the secretary nor the financial advisor is in the loop." In a subsequent letter to the finance ministry, the commission has asked for "a full-time financial advisor" to be placed in the UIDAI tasked with the "responsibility of looking into the authority's financial sanctions and clearances".

It has objected to the decision-making structure in the UIDAI that delegates the powers of a financial advisor to a deputy director-general who is also responsible for the authority's programmes and projects.

Typically, financial advisors of government departments are not entrusted with any discretionary policy-making powers so that they can take a fair and independent view of financial proposals.

ADVISOR HAS MANY RESPONSIBILITIES

But the commission says in this case the financial advisor has a number of responsibilities and prepares memos and cabinet notes for the authority. "This takes away the benefit of an independent scrutiny of proposals by an arms' length financial advisor," says the commission.

An e-mail sent to UIDAI officials seeking their views on the Planning Commission's letters did not elicit a response. The Planning Commission's criticism of the authority's way of functioning represents another setback for the body tasked with implementing one of the most ambitious projects of the UPA government.

Earlier this month, the finance ministry shot down a proposal to sanction Rs 15,000 crore to the authority for extending its biometric enrollment programme. This followed objections raised by the home ministry and the commission, which said the programme should be carried out by the census office that is creating the National Population Register.

The UIDAI has also been panned by the labour and rural development ministries which feel its plans will take too long to materialise. The ministries are working on their own independent biometric solutions. The UIDAI's original mandate was to assign a unique identity number to all Indians.

Now, the authority is also working on a brand new payment infrastructure with micro-ATMs to boost financial inclusion.

1362 - Aadhaar presents a plethora of Oppurtinities for India.Inc- Source - V C Circle

May 30, 2011, 07:05 PM IST

BY ANAND RAIThe UID project will initiate numerous opportunities in IT services, biometrics, credit profiling among other areas.

The $1.6 billion ‘Aadhaar’ initiative by the Indian government will change the lives of a billion residents very soon. Initially conceived by the Planning Commission, Aadhaar is basically a 12-digit unique number which the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will issue for every Indian resident. The numbers will be stored in a centralised database and linked to the basic demographics (name, age, gender and address) and biometric information (photograph, 10 fingerprints and iris) of each individual. According to current plans, by 2014, around one million new ids will be issued every day, thus completing 50 per cent of the enrolment. Needless to say, such an initiative will also create numerous opportunities in IT services, biometrics, credit profiling, banking, education and hospitality space.
 

Experts converging at the VCCircle Insights on The Aadhaar Project, held at the ITC Grand Central, Mumbai, on May 27, 2011, discussed the implications in great details. The event did witness prominent investors, architects and builders behind the initiative meeting on a common platform to discuss its mission, as well as the investable opportunities created by the project.
 

The event featured many prominent personalities who shared their views on the implication, challenges and future possibilities of the Aadhaar project. The speakers included Sanjay Jain, chief project manager (Product Monitoring Unit), UIDAI; Govindraj Ethiraj, volunteer, UIDAI; Abhinav Sinha, co-founder, Eko India Financial Services Pvt Ltd; Sreeni Tripuraneni, chairman & CEO, 4G Identity Solutions Pvt Ltd; Dinesh Nandwana, chairman & MD, Vakrangee Softwares and Sanjay Swamy, a former volunteer of UIDAI.
 

They covered a wide range of topics including the possible opportunities that Aadhaar might throw open for Indian corporates, its impact on economy and finance, the opportunities it would present for IT, technology & hardware, products and innovation, as well as retail, telecom and e-commerce, and finally, the challenges faced during the project implementation.
 

UIDAI & The Aadhaar Project
 

Established in February, 2009, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was set up with the single purpose of providing every Indian resident with a unique identification number. The authority would come up with a database containing simple biometric data including iris and fingerprints. A venture of the Planning Commission of India, the initiative has appointed Nandan Nilekani, former co-chairman of Infosys Technologies, as its first chairman. Ram Sewak Sharma, an IAS Officer of Jharkhand government, is the Director General and Mission Director of the Authority.
 

“Aadhaar is a federal government project and not a joint venture,” clarified UIDAI volunteer Govindraj Ethiraj. “Its focus is to provide a portable ID to all the residents in India. It will also focus on providing identities to the people, ‘outside’ the reach of the developmental programmes,” he added.
 

The residents will have to submit their photographs, their biometric data (iris and fingerprints) and demographics (name, date of birth, gender and address) to an enrolment agency (currently a total of 200 are operating) which, in turn, will send the recorded data to a registrar. These agencies are enrolled by the registrars (currently 60 in number), which are basically government bodies like the state governments or NSDL. The data collected by the registrars will be sent to the UIDAI who processes the data and based on the information, sends an Aadhaar letter to the concerned individual via the Indian Post.
 

While Karnataka government has taken a somewhat slow approach towards UID enrolment, Maharashtra has started the initiative in right earnest and begun the enrolment process in all the 34 districts. Till date, Andhra Pradesh has started enrolment in six districts. A total of 7.1 million Aadhaar letters have already been issued and twice the amount of data is being processed.
 

How Aadhaar Helps
 

“The Aadhaar project will provide IDs to all the residents of the country. I say residents and not citizens because the UID is for everyone who are residing in India legally, which means even a foreigner can get himself registered for UID if he has a work permit and is working in the country,” said Sanjay Swamy, a former volunteer of UIDAI. “The enrolment process is voluntary as of now, but the focus of the government is to make the services so lucrative that everyone will enrol.”
 

The Aadhaar project will provide a portable ID to every Indian resident, with the help of which he/she can open a no-frill bank account in any Indian city, irrespective of the residential address. One can also purchase mobile SIM cards without worrying about identity and address proof. Also, a business correspondent (appointed by a bank) can provide access to basic banking services using the microATM device. 

The services include making deposits, dispensing cash for withdrawals, process funds transfers or answering balance enquiries. The users can transfer money from his/her UID in exchange goods or hard cash from the business correspondent.
 

The UID can also function as a national skills register. Therefore, when you call a plumber to your place, you can actually track his credibility and his experience.
 

“The head of the family can actually introduce all other members of the family. But we are providing everyone with a personal UID to solve the problem of dependency,” added Jain.
 

Biz Opportunities
 

Aadhaar will create an eco-system with the potential to drive many other applications. It will drive a demand for applications and services, for products, for the Internet connectivity, for identification and authentication devices and also for new channels to ensure service delivery. 

According to Dr Sreeni Tripuraneni, chairman & CEO of 4G Identity Solutions, the company is working closely with four registrars across 16 states and will cover about 50 million residents. It is also the first ones to conduct Proof of Concept (POC) for the Aadhaar project.
 

IT Companies: The potential applications will include identification services for delivery of government welfare programmes like Public Distribution System, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, social security pension and girl child schemes. IT companies can also develop applications for immigration and border control systems like biometric passports which will comply with ICAO standards, biometric visas and e-Gate systems.
 

In addition, Aadhaar can revolutionise the way healthcare is delivered across the country by introducing electronic patient record. This will push the demand for suitable software which can be used in hundreds of hospitals and other healthcare institutions. It will also assist in electronic identification of patients.
 

Since Aadhaar can help deliver financial services, there will be further opportunities for software development firms. The potential clients can be banks and other finance and micro-finance institutions.
 

There are opportunities in the mobile space as well, as Aadhaar can link one’s cell phone to the bank account and change the way payments and transactions are made.
 

Hardware Companies: Aadhaar will soon ensure integration of service delivery for all schemes and services. This, in turn, will lead to an increased demand for hardware and software, as well as databases and middleware.
 

The demand for point of sales devices (POS), which are used for authentication of residents and delivery of services, will only increase with time. The existing POS devices have limitations in terms of fingerprint matching (due to poor quality of fingerprints). Also, the quality of algorithms used is poor and hence, there will be a growing requirement for POS devices which have more accurate and faster matching capabilities, good quality sensors and faster algorithms. 

Additionally, the iris-based POS devices will have huge potential. Since the PDS itself requires more than 5 lakh POS devices, the requirement can actually go into millions. Also, there will be requirements for smart cards for secure credentials.
 

In fact, there can be requirement for millions of authentication devices at different places like the citizen service centres, offices, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, stations and airports. Additionally, access control can be used for granting safe access to public zones and high-security areas. Iris-based ATMs can also be introduced which will help prevent identity theft, electronic fraud and employee fraud.
 

Other Tech Companies: The technology companies can provide verification algorithms, identification algorithms and matching engines. Then there is the fingerprint sensors for enhancing the quality of the images captured. Technology companies can also help enable fingerprint/iris authentication using mobile phones.
 

The Challenges Ahead For Aadhaar
 

While biometric registration can start at the age of 15, demographic data can pose a problem for many. If the demographics of a person are not available, then an introducer, who is already registered, can vouch for the person concerned. But although it may work well in villages, it is sure to pose problems in large cities. Moreover, the authentication process can only take place online and hence, it becomes a problem where Internet connectivity is absent.
 

As of now, there is no policy as to what happens if someone misplaces his or her Aadhaar letter. And finally, in spite of handicap enrolment being done, authentication at the point of purchase is a problem yet to be solved.
 

“Although 69,67,735 Aadhaar have already been issued as on May 24, 2011, 99 per cent of the population are still to be reached. A lot of infrastructural changes will have to be made for creating mass human resources for UID enrolment and reducing the timeframe for issue of UID,” said Dinesh Nandwana, chairman & MD, Vakrangee Softwares.