4923 - Left sings Mamata tune on Aadhaar - The Telegraph

Left sings Mamata tune on Aadhaar

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Calcutta, Nov. 4: The Left Front today said not possessing Aadhaar cards could not be a ground for denying subsidy on LPG to domestic consumers, a stand Mamata Banerjee has taken. Realising that the chief minister had beaten them again in taking up an issue that will affect the common man, the Left Front today decided to protest the UPA II government’s move. After a meeting at Alimuddin Street this afternoon, CPM state secretary and Front chairman Biman Bose said: “It seems that the issuance of Aadhaar cards is enveloped in aandhaar (darkness). The Centre should throw light on this. The Left Front is strongly protesting the Centre’s move to link the Aadhaar card to the availability of subsidy on domestic LPG. In no way can the Centre deny such benefits to the consumers.” The Supreme Court has ruled that the Aadhaar card cannot be made mandatory for getting subsidy. Mamata’s outburst against the Centre came on Friday, the day the Aadhaar-linked direct benefit transfer scheme on domestic LPG came into effect in Calcutta, Howrah and Cooch Behar. Sources said the chief minister was unhappy because the majority of the people in Bengal was yet to get Aadhaar cards. Those who have got the cards are yet to get their bank accounts linked with them. Bose today wondered what would happen to those who did not have bank accounts and so wouldn’t be eligible for central subsidy. “The Centre should clarify all these,” he said.

4887 - Bank KYC sans paperwork - The Telegraph

Bank KYC sans paperwork

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani with Axis Bank CEO Shikha Sharma in Mumbai on Thursday. (PTI) Mumbai, Oct. 24: Axis Bank today launched an “e-KYC” facility, which will enable Aadhaar-registered individuals to open an account by providing the unique identification (UID) number and getting fingerprints scanned. The paperless, instantaneous and secure facility has been approved by the finance ministry. The country’s third-largest bank has introduced the facility in 1,000 branches across 400 centres. It will be extended to over 2,000 branches by the end of this month. The mechanism is likely to be adopted by not only other banks but also mutual funds and insurance companies. The e-KYC facility was launched by Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and Shikha Sharma, managing director and chief executive officer of Axis Bank, here today. According to Axis Bank officials, a customer has to provide his Aadhaar number at the bank branch to open an account. The number will be verified with the UIDAI database through an authorised/KYC service agent. The bank will then conduct a biometric scan of the fingers. After the details are confirmed by the UIDAI database, a transaction number will be generated and the account will be opened. The facility will benefit customers who will not be required to submit details such as identity and address proof. “We expect this e-KYC facility to add to the overall service experience and also enhance business efficiency. A key challenge for the customers, while opening bank accounts is providing address proof, identity proof and physical copies of documents. eKYC simplifies the process and provides a seamless customer experience to the Aadhaar-registered individuals to open bank accounts,” Sharma said. Nilekani said e-KYC could be embraced by entities such as insurance companies and mutual funds. Individuals can also get mobile phone connections through the facility in the future. He said the key advantage of this facility was that it brought down transaction costs. According to Nilekani, 460 million Aadhar numbers have so far been rolled out and the target is to generate 600 million by early next year. Using the numbers as the base, the UIDAI has helped in rolling out a host of services, including direct subsidy transfer and person-to-person fund transfer through mobile phones.

4830 - Row over Aadhar in Mizoram - Telegraph India

Row over Aadhar in Mizoram OUR CORRESPONDENT Aizawl, Oct. 7: The Aadhar project inaugurated by the Congress-led government  of Mizoram has raised eyebrows among political observers. Its claim that the  biometric enrolment is “mandatory” is also being seen as contempt of court. Observers wondered if the project, being inaugurated with chief minister Laltha-nhawla flagging it off by being the first person to be registered under  Aadhar in the state, breaks the model code of conduct before the Assembly polls  announced on Friday. When asked about this, joint chief electoral officer Lalengmawia told The Telegraph that they would discuss the issue with the Election Commission before  giving a reply. As the Supreme Court recently ordered that Aadhar cards are not “mandatory” and  cannot be linked to a citizen getting access to essential services, the state  government here has issued a press release stating otherwise. The press release in the local lingua franca went so far as to warn that (translated)  “those who do not register themselves within the specified time and do not have  the Aadhar 12-digit UID number would not be marked in the National Population  Register and hence would not be regarded as citizens of India.” Speaking to this reporter over phone today, retired judge Justice K.S. Puttaswamy,  who filed a PIL against the government’s move, told that the court ruling is  binding on the Centre and all state governments. Any government that does not take this ruling into consideration is committing  contempt of court, he said. He said the Centre has moved the Supreme Court to modify its ruling to make it  mandatory for certain beneficiary-based welfare schemes. It is coming up for  hearing tomorrow.

4755 - Unique gas subsidy launched - Telegraph India

Unique gas subsidy launched

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Hurry! Link your bank accounts with your unique IDs to salvage your spiralling kitchen budget. Public sector oil major IOC rolled out its Aadhaar-linked direct benefit transfer of subsidy for domestic LPG consumers in five districts of Jharkhand, including Ranchi and Hazaribagh, on Tuesday. Residents will get a three-month grace period to comply with the formalities of linking their Aadhaar numbers with LPG consumer numbers and bank accounts. Nearly 3.65 lakh domestic LPG consumers in Ranchi, Lohardaga, Khunti, Hazaribagh and Ramgarh will have to shell out Rs 1,099, the ruling market price, for every 14.2kg cylinder delivered on their doorstep from Tuesday. IOCL’s deputy general manager (Indane division) D.K. Saha announced that once the refill was delivered, a subsidy amount of Rs 629.25 would be credited to the bank account of a consumer at the earliest. “The Aadhaar-linked direct benefit transfer scheme will be launched in phases in 22 districts till January (see box),” Saha said and added: “Decision on two districts — Latehar and Chatra — is pending.” Of the 3.65 lakh Indane consumers, only 80,347 have submitted their Aadhaar details under the KYC (know your customer) scheme launched by gas companies over the past year. Saha also maintained that only 27,481 had linked their bank accounts with Indane consumer and Aadhaar numbers. To be cash transfer compliant, all a consumer needs to do is approach the bank and submit a photocopy of their Aadhaar card, indicating their Indane consumer number. Saha said consumers could submit their applications with Aadhaar, bank and LPG details even to respective distributors. “These can also be sent via post to the IOC office on Line Tank Road, Ranchi,” he added. The senior IOCL official said that though the present amount of subsidy stood at Rs.629.25, it might vary in proportion with the market price of the cylinder as fixed by oil companies every month. DIRECT BENEFIT The 22 districts that will enjoy Aadhaar-linked LPG subsidy transfer October 1: Ranchi, Lohardaga, Khunti, Hazaribagh and Ramgarh November 1: Bokaro, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Gumla, Garhwa, Dumka, Dhanbad and Palamau December 1: Giridih, Koderma, Sahebganj, Deoghar and Godda January 1: Simdega, East and West Singhbhums, Pakur and Jamtara HOW TO LINK UNIQUE ID WITH BANK ACCOUNTS Approach bank with photocopy of Aadhaar card File applications — complete with bank, Aadhaar and consumer details — in person to LPG distributors or by post to IOC, Ranchi

4736 - SC order blow to card drive - Telegraph India

SC order blow to card drive

PIYUSH KUMAR TRIPATHI

Patna, Sept. 28: The Supreme Court’s interim order stating Aadhaar was not mandatory for accessing public services and subsidies has evoked repercussions in the state.

The order seems to have cast a shadow on the ongoing biometric registration process for National Population Register (NPR), which is linked with Aadhaar at present. Three of five camps in Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) areas set up for collection of biometric details of residents under NPR in Patna have been closed over the past three days after people stopped coming.

“The SC order has severely affected the biometric registration process under NPR. The footfall at the camps has drastically dropped soon after the order. It seems that people have a misconception that since Aadhaar is not mandatory, they do not need to register themselves at the NPR camps. However, enrolment for NPR is mandatory and it is an entirely different process. NPR is aimed at creating a database of citizens of the country and Aadhaar is just a part of it,” said a senior official of Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) in Patna. ECIL is the agency appointed by directorate of census operations, Bihar, for conducting biometric registration of residents under NPR in Patna.

“People have just stopped coming to the camps. Consequently, we closed the camps because the equipment used in biometric registration are quite expensive and might be stolen or get damaged if kept idle for long,” said an executive of Karvy Data Management Services Limited, one of the agencies outsourced by ECIL for looking after the biometric registration camps in PMC areas.

The biometric registration phase was launched in Bihar on February 20 this year with the registration of Governor Devanand Konwar and chief minister Nitish Kumar. It comprises photography, fingerprints and iris scan of residents enrolled in the first stage, the collection of demographic data.

“Biometric registration of around 23 lakh of the state’s 10 crore residents has been completed. Progress in the city has, however, been sluggish. Around 5,000 of around 15 lakh residents in PMC areas have been covered under the biometric registration phase,” said a senior official at the directorate of census operations, Bihar.

Though Aadhaar seems to be facing an identity crisis, the UPA government’s much-touted Aadhaar-based direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme seem to be gaining some momentum in the state after much delay.

The trial runs for transfer of the welfare amount directly into the bank account of beneficiaries through DBT started in Sheikhpura district from Wednesday.

4731 - GOOD IDEAS, BAD THINKING - Telegraph

GOOD IDEAS, BAD THINKING - The procedures for direct benefit transfers need working out

Commentarao: S.L. Rao Direct benefit transfers are expected by the United Progressive Alliance to be a game changer. They are expected to largely eliminate leakage and theft of benefits. Identification of residents will be by the Aadhaar number, but there is yet no foolproof, non-discretionary way to identify all beneficiaries. The direct benefit transfer can take place only to identified beneficiaries. However, it will save theft and waste by eliminating the handling and distributing of foodgrains and other subsidized or free goods and services. The benefits are to be transferred to bank accounts of beneficiaries. Households in many parts of India, especially rural India, do not have bank accounts and their localities often have no bank branches. Since a majority of the intended beneficiaries do not have bank accounts, and are not literate enough to open them and operate them, micro ATMs are intended to bring mini-bank branches to almost all villages and habitations. The unique identification number with its biometrics will enable an account to be opened, and identify the account holder who is to benefit. The problem of identifying beneficiaries still remains. It has to be decided by someone in government, usually at the lowest level, usually the tehsildars. This has allowed corruption and caste considerations to determine who will benefit, and many, who should have benefited, have lost out. For example, the national rural employment guarantee scheme requires each beneficiary to be given a job card on which the days worked are entered. But job cards are not issued to many. Many do not know how to apply and many others are intimidated by upper caste village headmen. Identification of who is to benefit leaves large scope for touts and brokers to ‘arrange’ matters if they are compensated. Doubts have also been raised that Aadhaar cards themselves may sometimes be fake. The first national roll out of direct benefits transfers is of smaller items. Liquefied petroleum gas cylinders (for domestic cooking gas) have a substantial subsidy element in the price, being sold well below cost to everyone. The new approach is to charge a much higher price — nearer cost-on supply, give the subsidy on a few cylinders per year, and not on all cylinders purchased. The subsidy amount will be transferred to the bank account of the eligible beneficiary. Unlike foodgrains, kerosene, or other such subsidized items, domestic cooking gas cylinders are the easiest items on which direct benefits can be transferred. They have a much smaller customer reach than foodgrains or kerosene. Each customer can be precisely identified by the bank through his Aadhaar number with its biometric details of the individual. Users are not among the bottom of the pyramid in income but higher up. They are more likely to be literate and many are likely to have bank accounts. The learning from LPG could be applied to other subsidized items that have to reach very many more beneficiaries. The procedure as announced is complicated even for the relatively more affluent households who use gas and will be eligible for a refund of a stipulated subsidy amount. It requires production of the Aadhaar card, the gas agency’s references (if the applicant has gas, or if he is a new customer), an electricity bill, or other verification of address. Many in India still do not have an Aadhaar number. All the participants — the bank, the gas retailer, and hence his oil company principal — want verification to assure themselves that the Aadhaar number represents the correct person. Some individuals have found that the Aadhaar number does not help if they have moved, say from Chennai to Delhi. The bank in an urban area can do the linking of the Aadhaar number and the corresponding bank account more easily. But it will be more difficult for the micro ATM in a village or the post offices which are expected in due course to offer micro banking services. In Bangalore, my bank had a form for me to fill, which included details about my customer account with the agency that supplies me with gas. The gas agency had two forms, neither of which was readily available. It required repeated visits before the forms were given. The gas agency also wanted photocopies of my (gas) customer book that had been issued by them, and a copy of my latest electricity bill. The forms took me 20 minutes or so to fill. The gas agency in their customer book had only initials for my first names while the Aadhaar card had the full expanded version. The gas agency (which had supplied me for over a decade) found this unacceptable. The electricity bill did not have my name, only my full address, the same as on the Aadhaar card. It took repeated visits and argument before the agency accepted my forms. This was in spite of the fact that the agency knew me, that the address was the same on all the documents, and the initials in my name were the first letters in my given names. What will happen to the semi-literate gas customer? How will he get the required photocopies? To whom will he turn if the name on the Aadhaar card is not exactly that in the supporting documents asked for? How will the micro ATM bank branch deal with such complications? The oil company and its gas agent must think carefully in order to minimize documentation. Records of regular LPG domestic consumers with them should allow them to preclude the additional forms. But on a much larger scale these problems and more will arise for foodgrain retailers under the public distribution system. A great deal of training of all these people who interact with the customers is essential. It does not seem to have been planned. When Aadhaar was first announced it was to be a single stop solution for determining identity. It would do away with the need for any other verification anywhere in India. A fresh bank account could be opened using the Aadhaar number. The name and address would be as in the card. If you were an existing LPG customer, the agent could link the Aadhaar to the agency’s records by the surname and address. The bank should not have required any forms to be filled. In this age of computers it should have just entered the number as additional information into the customer records in the bank. If the account was to be a new one, forms would of course have to be filled. The bank, especially the micro ATMs, would have to train its handlers on how to speedily deal with, and assist, each customer to fill the forms. Otherwise the lower bureaucracy will generate a new breed of touts who will do the job for a fee. Think of how complicated it will become when the micro ATM and other bank branches have to deal with the reimbursement of subsidies on foodgrains, kerosene and so on. The number of customers will be many times larger. They will be far less sophisticated in their knowledge. The most they can do is bring their Aadhaar and ration cards. None of this resolves the issue of how to identify all the intended beneficiaries, and keep out those that should not benefit. It does not eliminate the need for touts, extra costs in getting forms filled, and in being identified as a beneficiary. Aadhaar, the micro ATM, and direct transfer of benefits are great ideas, using technology to reach beneficiaries and eliminate corruption. But technology must understand the human problems. This marriage of technology with human understanding does not seem to have been considered. We will save the waste and the corruption in handling, storing and distributing large quantities of subsidized products and services but not solve the problems of intended beneficiaries. The author is former director general, National Council of Applied Economic Research

4719 - Aadhaar after the interim order - Telegraph India

Aadhaar after the interim order - What the Supreme Court order on Monday means for the card scheme

Do I still need an Aadhaar card for LPG subsidy if I live in one of the districts chosen for the pilot scheme, which applies from October 31 with a grace period of three months till January 31? There is no clarity yet. The decision will be voluntary, not mandatory, if the Supreme Court's interim order is upheld in the final ruling. But the Centre said on Tuesday that there was no change in its pilot scheme. The Centre said it would move the court seeking “a correction” of Monday’s interim order. It added that efforts would be made to pass a related bill in the winter session. Petroleum minister Veerappa Moily said the planned rollout of the Aadhaar-based cash subsidy payout to cooking gas consumers would continue as planned. The minister did not elaborate and he probably meant that the government would not make any change till the final order and the fate of the bill in the winter session were known. As matters stand now, the government cannot insist that you have to have the card to obtain benefits such as LPG subsidy Is the Supreme Court order interim or final? Interim. But the court has sufficiently indicated that it is not in favour of making the Aadhaar card mandatory for obtaining benefits when no legislation has been enacted for the purpose. The Centre had also categorically told the court that enrolment for the Aadhaar scheme was voluntary. What is not clear is whether various agencies such as oil companies can make the card number mandatory for providing the subsidy. According to the current plan, the oil companies will deposit the subsidy in the consumers’ bank accounts and the government will reimburse the companies When is the next hearing? The court has not set any specific date. In normal course, the case may come up for hearing after four to six weeks Will Aadhaar cards be issued in the interlude? Yes. There is no embargo from the court on issuing the cards. For residents, enrolment is voluntary, not mandatory Is there any point in having the Aadhaar card if it is not linked to the direct benefit scheme? Aadhaar means foundation. It is the base on which a delivery system can be built. The question is whether the card, the enrolment to which is voluntary, can be made mandatory for obtaining the benefits. Aadhaar can be used in any system that needs to establish the identity of a beneficiary Is the Aadhaar a citizenship card? No. It only suggests that the cardholder is a resident of India Why did the court say it should not be given to any illegal immigrant? Strictly speaking, the Aadhaar scheme does not differentiate between illegal immigrants and citizens. You can go to any authorised Aadhaar enrolment centre anywhere in India with your identity and address proof. The centres accept 18 types of proof of identity and 33 categories of proof of address. The objective is to provide identification numbers to facilitate access to benefits and services for individuals residing in India and who are entitled to such benefits. An element of ambiguity has crept in because the draft bill refers to “individuals residing in India and to certain other classes of individuals” Compiled by Basant Kumar Mohanty and R. Balaji