10578 - Consumers unwilling to share adhaar numbers with supply dept - TNN

Consumers unwilling to share adhaar numbers with supply dept

Abhilash Botekar | TNN | Nov 5, 2016, 10.27 PM IST

NASHIK: The consumers getting the kerosene subsidy are unwilling to share their adhaar numbers with the supply department fearing the government curtailing their subsidy of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The administration is therefore planning to stop the supply if the adhaar numbers was not provided.

"Since the people have failed to share aadhaar numbers with the machinery we are now planning to cut down the supply of all kerosene consumers who have are not willing to share the same - from November," a senior official from the supply office said.

The government is aiming at cutting down leakage in subsidy given on kerosene and as such the government has decided to find out numbers of customers who have at least an LPG connection so that their supply of kerosene could be discontinued. The government therefore had appealed to the masses to get their ration cards stamped saying they do not have LPG connection. 

But since that did not happen effectively, administration asked the fair price shopkeepers to take affidavits from kerosene consumers that they do not have LPG cylinders. The move failed as the shopkeepers kept themselves away from process fearing backlash from consumers.

The supply office therefore appealed to people to register their aadhar numbers with the administration, but even that has found no response. "The administration has therefore decided to ask the people to submit their aadhaar numbers before taking the delivery of kerosene from November onwards," the officer said. 

10533 - End kerosene subsidy, start big fuel reforms - Economic Times Blog

End kerosene subsidy, start big fuel reforms

October 15, 2016, 1:27 AM IST ET Edit in ET Editorials | Economy, Edit Page, India | ET

Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan expects kerosene subsidy to fall this year with increased supply of cooking gas and rural electrification. The drop in the consumption of a sooty, polluting fuel is happy news. But the leaky subsidy regime needs rigorous reform and, eventually, the subsidy tap turned off. Subsidised kerosene sells at a huge discount to the market price. It is largely diverted to adulterate petrol and diesel, which damages engines and intensifies pollution. The dual pricing of kerosene should end. The use of Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts to transfer the subsidy to all poor households, akin to that for cooking gas, makes eminent sense. It will exorcise ghost subscribers and allow the government to scrap product subsidy, with its inherent potential for diversion and other misuse. Actually, with electricity and cooking gas reaching many more households, much more subsidised kerosene will be used to adulterate petrol and diesel.

Subsidised kerosene should be substituted with solar lanterns to cut pollution. It also cuts costs, given that there are no recurring expenses in solar lamps. A Tufts University study last year showed that the Centre’s scheme for subsidising solar products is fettered by the reluctance of companies to go through the complex procedure of getting reimbursements from the government. The answer is to use Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts for subsidy disbursement. Solar power should be funded with resolve to boost local manufacture of solar panels, LEDs and batteries.

Of the Centre’s petroleum subsidy of Rs 26,947 crore for this fiscal year, kerosene accounts for Rs 7,144 crore and cooking gas Rs 19,802 crore. A reduction in kerosene supply, coupled with small increases in retail prices, is expected to lower kerosene subsidy by 25% this year. The Centre needs to phase out the subsidy on cooking gas as well for everyone except the poor. A proactive policy to phase out kerosene subsidies and to rationalise taxes by removing the special excise duty on petrol will bring diesel, petrol and kerosene prices close to one another. The larger point is to end the long era of distorted petroleum pricing.

This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Economic Times.

10092 - Coupon system for kerosene supply launched - The Hindu

MYSURU, June 2, 2016

Coupon system for kerosene supply launched

The biometric coupon-based system for kerosene distribution to eligible ration cardholders was launched here on Wednesday.

The Department of Food and Civil Supplies has told the fair price shops and dealers to distribute kerosene against the coupons.

The coupon-based kerosene distribution had been launched on a pilot basis in Mysuru city, Nanjangud, T. Narsipur, Bannur, K.R. Nagar, Periyapatna, H.D. Kote, Hunsur and Sargur. The new system is also being introduced in one gram panchayat in each taluk.

Under the new system, beneficiaries have to generate coupons by furnishing their ration card and Aadhaar numbers. Aadhaar number has to be linked with the ration card to avail their quota of kerosene by the beneficiaries.

A ration cardholder with single member is eligible to get two litres of kerosene a month while two or more members will get four litres of kerosene.

The coupons can be generated at MysuruOne (citizen service centre), the gram panchayat office, Atalji Jana Snehi Kendra, private photo service centres by providing their Aadhaar and ration card numbers.

Via SMS

The beneficiaries can generate coupons by sending an SMS to 9731979899, which issues a unique code to the respective fair price shops or kerosene retailers, who can cross verify whether beneficiary is eligible for the benefit by sending the ration card number to the same department number.

Coupons can also be generated by visiting the websitehttp://ahara.kar.nic.in/lpg

10018 - Coupon-based kerosene distribution from June 1 - The Hindu

MYSURU, May 21, 2016

Coupon-based kerosene distribution from June 1

SHANKAR BENNUR

Beneficiaries have to generate coupons by furnishing their ration card and Aadhaar numbers

In yet another reform under the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Department of Food and Civil Supplies is launching a biometric coupon-based system for kerosene distribution to eligible ration card holders from June 1.

Beneficiaries have to generate coupons by furnishing their ration card and Aadhaar numbers. Linking of Aadhaar number with ration card has become essential for them to avail their quota of kerosene.

A ration card holder with single member is eligible to get two litres of kerosene a month while two or more members will get four litres of kerosene. Subsidised kerosene costs Rs. 18 a litre.

Coupon-based kerosene distribution is being launched on a pilot basis in Mysuru, Nanjangud, T. Narsipur, Bannur, K.R. Nagar, Periyapatna, H.D. Kote, Hunsur and Sargur. In addition, one gram panchayat in each taluk will be covered under the new system.

From June, the fair price shops are supposed to distribute kerosene against the coupons.

The fair price shop owners and kerosene retailers had been told to buy an Android phone which is compulsory under the system, and download the software from the department website.

Each shop and retailer will get an user ID and password and will get a list of beneficiaries who don’t have LPG connection.

Deputy Director of Food and Civil Supplies K. Rameshwarappa told The Hindu that the beneficiaries can generate coupons by sending an SMS to 9731979899, which issues a unique code to the respective fair price shops or kerosene retailers, who can cross-verify whether beneficiary is eligible for the benefit by sending the ration card number to the same department number.

He said that the coupons can also be generated at MysuruOne (citizen service centre), the gram panchayat office, Atalji Jana Snehi Kendra, private photo service centres by providing their Aadhaar and ration card numbers.

Mr Rameshwarappa said coupons can also be generated by visiting the website http://ahara.kar.nic.in/lpg

There are 4,90,000 ration card holders in Mysuru district and the system is being introduced on a pilot basis to see the results.

On seeing the feedback, the system will be covered for all the areas.

The department had been educating representatives of fair price shops, kerosene retailers, PDOs and computer operators on how the coupon-system works and get them familiarised with the system. Training was conducted for them at Kalamandira here on Friday.

9808 - Kerosene direct cash transfer launch hits a stumbling block - Business Standard

Kerosene direct cash transfer launch hits a stumbling block

Pilot scheme delayed by at least a month because of lack of bank accounts and their seeding with Aadhaar

Sudheer Pal Singh  |  New Delhi 

April 9, 2016

Lack of bank accounts, their seeding with Aadhaar and the problems in creating biometric database of beneficiaries have pushed back the launch of the ambitious plan to introduce Direct Benefit Transfer in Kerosene (DBTK) by at least a month.

DBTK, under which kerosene subsidy would be transferred directly into consumers’ bank accounts, similar to cooking gas subsidy, was to be rolled out in 40 districts across nine states from April 1. “A host of problems have led to a situation where the rollout of the DBTK scheme has been pushed by at least a month,” said a senior oil ministry official, who did not wish to be identified. “Bank accounts of all the beneficiaries have not been created. Also, the seeding with Aadhaar numbers is yet to happen.”

This highlights how the lack of a centralised database could play spoilsport in implementing schemes where state governments are involved. DBTK aims at removing subsidised kerosene from the supply chain for better targeting of beneficiaries, eliminating pilferage and black-marketing, and cutting down adulteration of the cheap fuel with diesel. While Gujarat and Maharashtra are all set to roll out direct cash transfer, other states are yet to catch up.

Under the scheme, a consumer will pay non-subsidised price of kerosene at the time of purchase. Subsequently, the amount of subsidy will be transferred to the beneficiary’s bank account. To avoid any inconvenience to the beneficiaries during the initial purchase through payment of un-subsided price, an initial amount of subsidy will be credited to all eligible people.

“Another major issue is the difficulty being experienced in creation of biometrics of beneficiaries at the point of sale (fair price shop) and overlapping of the states’ list of consumers with the list of below-poverty-line (BPL) households. Also, with the launch of the Ujjwala scheme slated on May 1, the focus has temporarily shifted,” said the official cited above.

As part of the Ujjwala scheme, the government has already announced providing liquefied petroleum gas connections to 50 million BPL households in three years.

Last month, Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan held a meeting with state government representatives on DBTK, where the Centre promised advance transfer of subsidies to beneficiaries for the smooth transition to DBT, while the states highlighted their concerns in rolling out the scheme.

The meeting had witnessed participation from 19 states and Union territories and senior executives of oil marketing companies (OMCs). “Various issues raised by the states having a bearing on implementation of the scheme included the basis of identifying beneficiaries, use of point-of-sale machines, integration with the existing public distribution system, and modalities of availability of white (non-subsidised) kerosene,” the ministry stated.

Pradhan had told Business Standard in an interview last month that the Centre was hopeful of covering at least 33 districts in nine states in 2016-17. “This will be a substantial leap forward in the reform process. We are working to get the completely digitised data of consumers prepared. Many states have prepared their own lists and scheme and are ready for cooperation in a bigger way. Many others have offered covering the entire state under the scheme by end of the financial year,” he had said.

States will be given cash incentives of 75 per cent of subsidy saving during the first two years, 50 per cent in the third year, and 25 per cent in the fourth year. The scheme will be launched initially in Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, even as more states are likely to join soon.

TEETHING ISSUES

• Kerosene subsidy to be transferred directly into Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of consumers
   
• The scheme was to be rolled out in 40 districts across nine states from April 1
   
• Problems in creating beneficiaries’ biometric database push the launch date by at least a month
   
• Gujarat and Maharashtra best prepared to roll out direct cash transfer
   
• Another issue is differences between the states’ list of fair price shop customers and the list of below-poverty-line (BPL) households

9794 - Kerosene direct cash transfer launch hits a stumbling block - Business Standard

Kerosene direct cash transfer launch hits a stumbling block

Pilot scheme delayed by at least a month because of lack of bank accounts and their seeding with Aadhaar

Sudheer Pal Singh  |  New Delhi 

April 9, 2016 Last Updated at 23:32 IST

ALSO READ

• Govt is focusing on targeted kerosene subsidy: Dharmendra Pradhan
  Targeting, not saving, is the aim of Direct Benefits Transfer for kerosene: Dharmendra Pradhan
  Direct transfer of kerosene subsidy: All you need to know
  Pradhan to take stock of DBT plan for kerosene subsidy

Lack of bank accounts, their seeding with Aadhaar and the problems in creating biometric database of beneficiaries have pushed back the launch of the ambitious plan to introduce Direct Benefit Transfer in Kerosene (DBTK) by at least a month.

DBTK, under which kerosene subsidy would be transferred directly into consumers’ bank accounts, similar to cooking gas subsidy, was to be rolled out in 40 districts across nine states from April 1. “A host of problems have led to a situation where the rollout of the DBTK scheme has been pushed by at least a month,” said a senior oil ministry official, who did not wish to be identified. “Bank accounts of all the beneficiaries have not been created. Also, the seeding with Aadhaar numbers is yet to happen.”

This highlights how the lack of a centralised database could play spoilsport in implementing schemes where state governments are involved. DBTK aims at removing subsidised kerosene from the supply chain for better targeting of beneficiaries, eliminating pilferage and black-marketing, and cutting down adulteration of the cheap fuel with diesel. While Gujarat and Maharashtra are all set to roll out direct cash transfer, other states are yet to catch up.

Under the scheme, a consumer will pay non-subsidised price of kerosene at the time of purchase. Subsequently, the amount of subsidy will be transferred to the beneficiary’s bank account. To avoid any inconvenience to the beneficiaries during the initial purchase through payment of un-subsided price, an initial amount of subsidy will be credited to all eligible people.

“Another major issue is the difficulty being experienced in creation of biometrics of beneficiaries at the point of sale (fair price shop) and overlapping of the states’ list of consumers with the list of below-poverty-line (BPL) households. Also, with the launch of the Ujjwala scheme slated on May 1, the focus has temporarily shifted,” said the official cited above.

As part of the Ujjwala scheme, the government has already announced providing liquefied petroleum gas connections to 50 million BPL households in three years.

Last month, Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan held a meeting with state government representatives on DBTK, where the Centre promised advance transfer of subsidies to beneficiaries for the smooth transition to DBT, while the states highlighted their concerns in rolling out the scheme.

The meeting had witnessed participation from 19 states and Union territories and senior executives of oil marketing companies (OMCs). “Various issues raised by the states having a bearing on implementation of the scheme included the basis of identifying beneficiaries, use of point-of-sale machines, integration with the existing public distribution system, and modalities of availability of white (non-subsidised) kerosene,” the ministry stated.

Pradhan had told Business Standard in an interview last month that the Centre was hopeful of covering at least 33 districts in nine states in 2016-17. “This will be a substantial leap forward in the reform process. We are working to get the completely digitised data of consumers prepared. Many states have prepared their own lists and scheme and are ready for cooperation in a bigger way. Many others have offered covering the entire state under the scheme by end of the financial year,” he had said.

States will be given cash incentives of 75 per cent of subsidy saving during the first two years, 50 per cent in the third year, and 25 per cent in the fourth year. The scheme will be launched initially in Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, even as more states are likely to join soon.

TEETHING ISSUES

• Kerosene subsidy to be transferred directly into Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of consumers
   
• The scheme was to be rolled out in 40 districts across nine states from April 1
   
• Problems in creating beneficiaries’ biometric database push the launch date by at least a month
   
• Gujarat and Maharashtra best prepared to roll out direct cash transfer
   
• Another issue is differences between the states’ list of fair price shop customers and the list of below-poverty-line (BPL) households

9354 - NDA govt rewriting subsidy rules - Live Mint

NDA govt rewriting subsidy rules

The government to start direct benefit transfer scheme for kerosene from 1 April

Gireesh Chandra Prasad

New Delhi: The oil ministry’s decision last week to credit financial assistance directly to the bank accounts of poor consumers for buying kerosene would save the exchequer at least Rs.2,000 crore a year, when fully implemented, and help take subsidy reforms on fossil fuels to their conclusion, taking advantage of the prevailing low prices.

The poor man’s fuel is the last petroleum product to be chosen for market-linked pricing because of its political sensitivity and because it is sold through states’ vast public distribution network, unlike petrol, diesel and LPG which are directly sold by fuel retailers IOC, HPCL and BPCL.

Market-linked pricing of kerosene and transfer of financial assistance to the bank accounts of the poor would start as a pilot project in 26 districts across eight states from 1 April.

In case of LPG which is already sold at market rates, the government decided last week to limit subsidy transfers to the bank accounts of only those customers with annual incomes below Rs.10 lakh.

Both decisions come at a time when the Indian basket of crude oil is at $34 a barrel, the lowest in a decade.

“The bearish trend in oil price might stay for some time, but would not remain so forever. The government seems to be making use of this window of opportunity to achieve subsidy reforms in the oil sector,” said D.K. Joshi, director and chief economist at research firm Crisil.

Lower oil price has also enabled the government to boost its revenue by increasing excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs.10.2 and Rs.9.97 a litre, respectively, in seven instalments since November 2014. While this did not pinch consumers, they were denied of the full benefit of the decline in global oil prices.

Although the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had in 2013 announced that fuel marketing companies could raise diesel prices by 50 paise a month to bring the administered price close to the market-determined price, the companies often did not exercise that right in the absence of a green signal from the oil ministry, as global oil prices were still high.

The Narendra Modi administration was able to take advantage of the subsequent fall in global prices to decontrol diesel price fully in October 2014, which led to an immediate price cut of Rs.3.5 per litre. At present, retailers make no revenue loss on selling petrol or diesel.

The fall in global price is also reflected in the fact that the Central government’s share of oil subsidy, which had touched Rs.97,000 crore in 2012-13, is estimated to be Rs.30,000 crore in the current fiscal. Of this, Rs.22,000 crore is for LPG and the remaining Rs.8,000 crore for kerosene. At present, kerosene, which has a market price of Rs.28 per litre, comes at a discount of Rs.13.

The oil ministry has also promised financial incentives to states that volunteer for lower kerosene allocation. If it results in lowering the total allocation of subsidized kerosene to states from 86.85 lakh kilolitres this fiscal to 71.30 lakh kilolitres, which according to the National Sample Survey of 2011-12 is the estimated total consumption of kerosene a year, savings to the exchequer could be at least Rs.2,011 crore a year. It is believed that about 40% of the subsidized kerosene is diverted illegally for adulterating diesel.

According to the government, the actual requirement of kerosene would be even lower, considering the improvements in village electrification and in making LPG available to more poor households. Through the “Give-Back” scheme of the government, nearly 45 lakh new LPG connections have been given to the poor.

Limiting LPG subsidy to those with annual income below Rs.10 lakh is expected to reduce subsidy by about Rs.300 crore a year at current price, assuming that each consumer who will be denied the subsidy from 1 January would be using 5-8 cylinders a year. According to rating agency ICRA, the savings for the government could be Rs.500 crore, which could increase materially if the income threshold for LPG subsidy is lowered progressively. In Delhi, a 14.2kg LPG cylinder comes at a retail price of Rs.608, on which the Central government pays a subsidy of Rs.198. About 90% of the 16 crore LPG consumers get subsidy on their bank accounts.

In 2012, the UPA government first capped the total number of subsidized cylinders available to a household at six, but later raised it to nine and then to 12 by January 2014.

Gireesh Chandra Prasad

TOPICS: FUEL SUBSIDYKEROSENELPGNDASUBSIDY REFORMS

8621 - Aadhaar only for foodgrains, LPG, kerosene distribution - Hindu Business Line

Aadhaar only for foodgrains, LPG, kerosene distribution

OUR BUREAU

NEW DELHI, AUGUST 27:  

Based on the Supreme Court’s interim order of August 11, the Finance Ministry has said that the Unique Identification Number (UID), or Aadhaar, should be used only for the distribution of foodgrains, kerosene and cooking gas.

It has also said that seeding of Aadhaar numbers into a database will be voluntary. As on July 31, over 89 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued.

According to a Finance Ministry office memorandum, the apex court order was in consonance with the Justice Wadhwa Committee report that deliberated the issue of use of biometrics to curb diversion and ensure that stocks under PDS reach bona fide beneficiaries. The memo further said the Oil and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Ministries and all the public authorities concerned in States and Union Territories take prompt action accordingly.

It may be noted that the Supreme Court, in its order, had said neither obtaining nor production of the card should be a condition for obtaining any benefits otherwise due to citizens, other than the PDS scheme and cooking fuel.

Many seeded

In another order, the Ministry said a large number of Aadhaar numbers have already been seeded. The Ministry clarified that wherever a beneficiary voluntarily gives the Aadhaar number, it may be seeded in the database. However, “the use of Aadhaar number for delivery of services/benefits will be strictly as per direction of the Supreme Court,” it added.

(This article was published on August 27, 2015

8500 - SC allows Centre to link Aadhaar with PDS, LPG subsidy - Hindustan Times

SC allows Centre to link Aadhaar with PDS, LPG subsidy

• Bhadra Sinha, Hindustan Times, New Delhi| Updated: Aug 12, 2015 09:58 IST

The Supreme Court has referred Aadhar card matter to a Constitution Bench. (HT File Photo)

Aadhaar card wouldn’t be necessary for a host of services and welfare schemes, other than government benefits such as food under the public distribution scheme and subsidised LPG cooking fuel, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.

The top court’s interim order made the country’s unique identification card, which has been facing privacy intrusion barbs since its inception, optional.

“An Aadhaar card will not be a condition for obtaining benefits otherwise due to a citizen,” the court said and directed the Centre to give wide media publicity that it was not mandatory for a citizen to possess the card.

This means, the government cannot force a citizen to show his or her Aadhaar card to receive benefits such as a pension or to open a bank account.

“The unique identification number or Aadhaar card will not be used for any purpose other than the PDS and, in particular, for the purpose of distribution of foodgrain and cooking fuel, such as kerosene,” said a bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar.

It restrained the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) from sharing any personal biometric details of cardholders with anyone, except for a criminal investigation monitored or mandated by a court order.

The court referred to a larger bench to decide whether right to privacy was a fundamental right. “It is desirable that the matter be heard at the earliest,” it said, asking the Chief Justice to constitute the bench. The validity of Aadhaar would be decided after the constitution  bench determines the right to privacy issue.

A clutch of petitions has challenged the government’s project for a 12-digit identification number for each citizen, saying collection of biometric and other details for the card infringed an individual’s privacy.

The court, however, declined to stop the Aadhaar enrolment process as demanded by the petitioners. The order came as a breather for the government that has already spent crores on the project.

Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi explained to the court the benefits of Aadhaar, which would ensure effective implementation of social welfare schemes such as MGNREGA, distribution of foodgrain and LPG cylinders. He said Aadhaar cards have been issued to about 90% of the population.

The project came under fire for a techno-legal glitch, pointed out by retired Karnataka High Court judge Justice KS Puttaswamy. He moved the top court in 2013 seeking declaration of a 2009 executive order on Aadhaar illegal because there was no legislation backing the scheme.

In September 2013, the Supreme Court asked the government not to ask for the Aadhaar card to extend benefits under welfare schemes.

8483 - Aadhaar card: SC allows Centre to link Aadhaar with PDS, LPG subsidy - Indian Express

Aadhaar card: SC allows Centre to link Aadhaar with PDS, LPG subsidy

Clarifies Aadhaar not mandatory, cannot be insisted upon for doling out benefits under welfare schemes.

The Supreme Court Tuesday allowed the Centre to link Aadhaar card data with the public distribution system (PDS) and LPG subsidy. The court, however, rejected a plea to stop further enrolment under the scheme.

The interim order was passed as the bench referred to a Constitution Bench a clutch of petitions, which contended that Aadhaar enrolment was a breach of the “fundamental” right to privacy. Observing that Aadhaar presents a possibility of plugging the leaks in the PDS, where pilferage and fraudulent procurements were rampant, a three-judge bench led by Justice J Chelameswar permitted the government to use Aadhaar for its schemes to distribute food grains, kerosene and LPG.

WATCH VIDEO

“We agree with you that PDS is very important. We are not saying don’t enrol more people under the UID (Unique Identification Scheme) but restrict it to PDS and LPG. We don’t think that it is of no consequence that there are certain benefits of this scheme and a lot of corruption can be eliminated. What is wrong with stopping leakage and not letting non-existent people draw benefits? There is no doubt the system is a bucket with water and a lot of holes in it,” observed the bench, also comprising Justices S A Bobde and C Nagappan.

WATCH: The Aadhar Question. Why Is The Programme In A Limbo?

The development was significant as it cleared the way to officially make functional some projects that government wanted rolled out linked to Aadhaar. At the same time, the government also succeeded in warding off a plea that wanted an immediate stay on further enrolment due to privacy concerns being raised.

The bench, however, underlined that the issue was being referred to a larger bench as there were “apparently unresolved contradictions” in its previous judgments as to whether privacy was a fundamental right or not.

While clarifying that it was an interim order, the bench said that Aadhaar was not mandatory and cannot be insisted upon by public authorities for doling out benefits under the social welfare schemes.

“The Union of India will give wide publicity in print and electronic media and also on radio that it is not mandatory to obtain Aadhaar cards,” the bench said, as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi expressed the government’s willingness to issue advertisements clarifying Aadhaar was optional.

Blog: Decoding the Aadhaar judgment: No more seeding, not till privacy issue is settled by court

The court also recorded an undertaking by Rohatgi that “no personal information” of the card holders will be shared with any other agency and that the information will not be used for any other purposes except for PDS, LPG and in a criminal investigation.

While expressing concern over possible misuse of the huge database of personal information, the bench said: “You may not do it, but you may unwittingly allow others to do it. Other agencies may access such information and harass them.”

However, Rohtagi retorted that the purpose of the scheme was only “to make sure those not entitled to certain benefits are weeded out”.

The court also denied the government a go-ahead to link Aadhaar with MNREGA and students’ scholarship schemes

Meanwhile, referring the matter to a Constitution Bench, the court noted that there were two judgments — in 1954 and 1963 — holding that privacy was not a fundamental right, while subsequent judgments by smaller benches in 1990s read right to privacy into right to life and liberty under Article 21.

Citing this dichotomy, the court said an authoritative decision was a must to define the contours and status of the right to privacy which is a pivotal point of contention raised in the petitions.

The issue was likely to be referred to a nine-judge bench eventually since the 1954 judgment was by an eight-judge bench.

- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/supreme-court-allows-centre-to-link-aadhaar-card-with-social-benefit-schemes/#sthash.043jqAhL.dpuf

8459 - Govt targets food, kerosene DBT by April 2016 - Financial Express

Govt targets food, kerosene DBT by April 2016

A family could get estimated Rs 500-700 a month if it opts for cash instead of subsidised foodgrains, kerosene

By: Prasanta Sahu | New Delhi | August 7, 2015 12:56 AM

Enthused by the success of direct benefit transfer (DBT) for LPG, the Narendra Modi government has set an ambitious target to roll out DBT for disbursing food and kerosene subsidies across the country latest by April 1, 2016, officials said.

Unlike in the case of LPG, where the subsidy amount is deposited to beneficiary accounts almost simultaneously with the sale of the fuel to household consumers, the DBT schemes for food and kerosene, the sources said, would have both cash and non-cash options.

Especially in the case of rural areas, the sources added, subsidised rationing of food and kerosene would be better targeted with biometric authentication of beneficiaries.

However, the target, according to analysts, looks challenging as most states are yet to start the authentication of beneficiaries by seeding their bank accounts and Aadhaar numbers.

Officials said the Centre may have to get tough with states on the implementation of DBT, which is crucial for ushering in expenditure reforms to improve the government finances. The Expenditure Management Commission, in its interim report in January 2015, recommended that DBT be implemented in all government welfare schemes to ensure only the deserving get the benefits and leakages are plugged. Major subsidies — food, fertiliser and fuel — which were 2.3% of GDP in FY14, were brought down to 2.0% in FY15 and are estimated to be 1.6% in FY16, thanks to the decontrol of diesel and petrol, benign crude oil prices and a DBT-LPG scheme.

The Centre has made it clear that states won’t be able to get any need-based extra allocation of food under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) if digitisation of beneficiaries list and end-to-end computerisation of PDS is not complete by September 30. If the digitisation and seeding of Aadhaar is not complete by December 31, they will only get PDS rations proportionate to digitisation.

After the fiats, most of the states have completed digitisation of beneficiaries list, but are yet to complete digitisation of online allocation and supply chain systems for subsidised food. The Centre is now pushing states to start de-duplication of beneficiaries by seeding Aadhaar and bank accounts to meet the DBT roll-out target, which officials admit is ambitious.

According to an estimate, a family could get R500-700 per month, depending on its size, if it opts for cash as an alternative to subsidised foodgrains and kerosene. After the failure of the initial pilot in Puducherry in July, the Centre is going to roll out the pilot for DBT-cash for food and kerosene in Puducherry, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli in September. “Based on this experience, states will decide on their option,” a senior government official said.

First Published on August 07, 2015 12:56 am

8282 - ‘Surrendering of LPG subsidy will not be made mandatory’ - Hindu Businessline

‘Surrendering of LPG subsidy will not be made mandatory’

OUR BUREAU

Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, with Secretary KD Tripathi at the national seminar on bio fuel in the Capital on Monday RAMESH SHARMA 

States asked to identify people in need of kerosene subsidy

NEW DELHI, JULY 13:  

The Centre is confident that people with sufficient income will give up their LPG subsidy and is not considering making it mandatory for certain income groups, said Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum & Natural Gas, on Monday.

“Already more than 10 lakh people have given up the LPG subsidy. I am confident that more people will give it up and we will soon have one crore people in this category,” he said while speaking on the sidelines of a national seminar on bio-fuels.

The Minister also said that talks are on with the State Governments to identify the people who require kerosene subsidy in order to work out a plan similar to Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG.

Pradhan said that his Ministry is also working on a programme to increase CNG stations for providing clean fuel along key highways near the national capital region of Delhi.

“Delhi-Jaipur, Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Haridwar and Delhi-Agra will be made into green corridors where CNG stations would increase. Similar pockets have been identified near Mumbai, Pune, Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow and Hyderabad,” he said.

During the seminar, the Minister urged the participants to chart out a way for promoting bio-fuels to bring down India’s dependency on crude oil imports.

“If we do 5 per cent bio-diesel blending it would require 3.5 million tonne bio-fuel but right now capacity is only at 1 million tonne per annum. It shows the kind of work that needs to be done,” said the Minister.

The Ministry has also constituted a working group to accelerate the use of bio-fuels. It would be headed by YB Ramakrishna, former Chairman of the Karnataka State Bio-Fuel Development Board.

(This article was published on July 13, 2015)

8233 - NDA govt kicks off PDS reforms with direct cash transfers - Live Mint

NDA govt kicks off PDS reforms with direct cash transfers

Starting September, govt will usher in direct cash transfers to Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of beneficiaries in Puducherry, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli

 Asit Ranjan Mishra 

Photo: Ramesh Pathania/Mint

New Delhi: The government has decided to bite the bullet on public distribution system (PDS) reforms.

Starting September, it will usher in direct cash transfers to the Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of beneficiaries in Puducherry, Chandigarh and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. In Daman and Diu, PDS benefits will be provided on the basis of Aadhaar-linked biometric verification.

“We are taking the measure on the request of members of Parliaments of these Union territories. While initially, Rs.500-700 per household will be transferred to the bank accounts of beneficiaries as food subsidy, at a later stage, kerosene will also be brought under DBT (direct benefit transfer). There will be no option of availing foodgrain through PDS. It will be totally based on cash (transfers),” Peeyush Kumar, joint secretary in charge of DBT in the finance ministry, said.

He was addressing a conference on DBT organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Thursday.

A high-level committee on the state-owned Food Corporation of India’s (FCI’s) restructuring, chaired by former food minister Shanta Kumar, had recommended an overhaul of the FCI-managed PDS earlier this year. The panel estimated that cash transfers could save the exchequer Rs.30,000 crore annually. For 2014-15, the central food subsidy bill is estimated at Rs.1.15 trillion.

So far, DBT had been rolled out for transfer of cooking gas (LPG) subsidies. Called the Pahal scheme, it has covered 11.89 crore of the 14.54 crore active LPG consumers till March, according to petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s statement in Parliament.

But unlike Pahal, where the cash transfer to the Aadhaar-linked bank account of the beneficiary is based on consumption, in the case of PDS, the amount will be transferred each month irrespective of the beneficiary’s past consumption history.

Earlier, chief economic adviser to the finance ministry, Arvind Subramanian, speaking at the conference, described DBT as a “game changer” for India. He pointed out how DBT in the case of LPG subsidy had resulted in a 24% reduction in the sale of subsidised LPG, as “ghost beneficiaries” had been excluded. The savings to the government were to the tune of Rs.12,700 crore in 2014-15, he added.

Kumar said the centre has directed state governments to fully digitize their Aadhaar enrolment sheets and link them to the PDS database by the end of December, failing which their PDS supplies would be stopped. “We have also told the state governments that by December you identify one district and start a pilot project for PDS through biometric identification so that you are aware of the issues that come up,” he added.

Once states link Aadhaar numbers with the PDS database, biometric devices will be made available at fair-price shops, so that verification of beneficiaries can be done within seconds.

“At present, 89% of the Aadhaar database is digitized. But unfortunately, Aadhaar seeding is on the lower side, only around 10-15%. In Delhi and Andhra Pradesh, it is 100%,” he said.

In Delhi, 25,000 fair price shops have been entirely digitized and linked to Aadhaar. In Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, PDS is completely based on biometric authentication since May.

“The initial results of one month are quite encouraging. Savings in the first month itself is Rs.8 crore, meaning almost Rs.100 crore in savings from one district in a year,” Kumar said.

On taking DBT beyond the Union territories, Kumar clarified that the central government could not take a decision on rolling it out in states as the matter is a state subject.

Dipa Sinha, fellow at the Centre for Equity Studies, a Delhi-based research and non-profit advocacy group, and convenor of the steering committee of the Right To Food campaign, said at a time when the coverage of PDS is improving, the government is sending confusing messages by pushing for cash transfers, shutting down PDS.

“PDS plays multiple roles by ensuring basic food security for the poor and support for farmers. Dismantling PDS will mean foodgrain procurement and, in turn, production will go down, which could be dangerous for the country,” she added.

The National Sample Survey Office data released last week showed that more rural households are buying from PDS, and their purchases of subsidised food have doubled in the past seven years. Nearly 28% of rice eaten by all rural households in 2011-12 was from the PDS, more than double the share of 13.2% in 2004-05. Also, nearly 46% of rural households across India bought subsidised rice from PDS in 2011-12, up from 24.4% in 2004-05 and 39% in 2009-10.

FIRST PUBLISHED: FRI, JUL 03 2015. 12 39 AM IS

8085 - Editorial: Reining in subsidies - Financial Express

Editorial: Reining in subsidies

Getting the SECC data will be a big step forward

By: The Financial Express | May 31, 2015 11:56 pm

Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan is right when he says that direct cash transfers in kerosene subsidies, the next item on his agenda, will not be as easy as in the case of LPG where the government was able to weed out 4 crore bogus customers once it linked LPG connections to Aadhaar-seeded and unseeded bank accounts. 

In the case of LPG, all supplies were made by 3 PSU oil companies, Aadhaar was centrally- run and you had PSU banks—in other words, all the possible levers were under the control of the central government. If direct benefit transfers didn’t work in the case of LPG, the government had only itself to blame. 

In the case of kerosene, which accounted for a third of the R72,000-crore under-recovery of oil PSUs in FY15—as Pradhan has pointed out in his FE interview— it is the state governments that have to identify the beneficiaries. To that extent, the Centre is dependent upon the progress made by the states in identifying beneficiaries. Indeed, that is the problem faced in moving to cash transfers in the case of food subsidies—the states have not come up with their lists of the beneficiaries, after which the latter have to be connected to bank accounts that are linked to their Aadhaar numbers.

Getting states to identify the poor has been an uphill task and the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) has been going on since 2011—a total of 13 socio-economic parameters, like size of land-holding and type of house, were to be used to identify the poor. While a draft list is ready for 624 of the country’s 640 districts, a final list is available for only 200. 

A large part of the government’s effort over the past year has been to pressurise states to finalise the lists and, as FE has reported, at one stage, the prime minister’s office even directed that states which do not have a final list will be supplied grain at above-poverty-line prices under the National Food Security Act—rice at Rs 7.9 a kg and wheat at R6.1 per kg as compared to Rs 3 and Rs 2 per kg, respectively, for the poor. 

The final list is now likely to be available next week and this will be a big step forward in reducing subsidies. How much subsidy will be cut will depend upon how many poor people the SECC finally comes up with, but the subsidy outgo will be restricted to just this list. 

Over a period of time, and this is where the real benefits will come in, the government will have to link these names to Aadhaar numbers and to Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts—only when this is done can de-duplication be done, which is how 4 crore users were eliminated from the LPG subscriber list. 

Apart from the big benefits the government will get once bogus subscribers are weeded out, getting the list is very important since, based on NSS data, on average, around half the food subsidy does not reach the poor. Once the poor are identified, however, with well-designed programmes using mobile apps for instance—the poor can SMS how much grain they got to a pre-specified number—it will be possible to ensure that they get their full grain and other allotments.

First Published on June 1, 2015 12:26 am

8079 - Kerosene subsidy: The power of Aadhaar should be fully utilised - Economic Times

Kerosene subsidy: The power of Aadhaar should be fully utilised

May 30, 2015, 3:36 AM IST ET Edit in ET Editorials | Economy, India | ET

Speedy overhaul of the leaky subsidy regime for domestic kerosene brooks no delay. Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan says that a direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for kerosene, which would deposit the subsidy in beneficiary bank accounts linked to unique-identity Aadhaar cards, akin to that for cooking gas, is on the anvil. It makes perfect sense to do away with the warped dual pricing of kerosene and its steep discount for domestic use, which, as per regular surveys, leads to rampant diversion for adulteration of automotive fuel, wear and tear of vehicle engines and increased levels of pollution.

In parallel, the Centre needs to provide, popularise and subsidise solar lanterns, which are ‘green’ and promise to dramatically bring down indoor pollution levels, apart from incentivising ‘Make in India’. The point is that the poor use kerosene overwhelmingly for the purpose of lighting: a one-time subsidy to supply solar lamps to all households who avail of subsidised kerosene would burden the exchequer far less than the kerosene subsidy, which adds up to Rs 25,000 crore annually.

It would also provide focused funding for solar power, which, in turn, can boost local manufacture of solar panels, light-emitting diodes (LED) and batteries. The potential is huge. Every household needs a solar lantern or two for unforeseen use, which, in turn, should rev up demand. Once they reach scale, backward integration into higher tech manufacturing and research and development are possible.

Meanwhile, the Centre needs to gradually phase out over the medium term the subsidy on cooking gas (LPG) for all except the poor, who can continue to get the subsidy via DBT. The government has, rightly, capped the LPG subsidy at Rs 20 per kg. We need to rationalise consumption subsidies and, instead, shore up capital investment and infrastructure, true. But we also need to better target subsidies and not let them be appropriated by the nonpoor.

Also required are better-designed non-smoking stoves and chullahs that use biomass, a renewable fuel. The money saved on kerosene subsidy by eliminating ghost subscribers will more than suffice for these initiatives.

This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Economic Times.

7807 - How Aadhaar helped identify ineligible beneficiaries of subsidised kerosene - Indian Express

How Aadhaar helped identify ineligible beneficiaries of subsidised kerosene

At a kerosene pump in Bapudham Colony in Sector 26, Chandigarh. (Source: Express Archives)

Chandigarh | Published on:April 18, 2015 3:45 am

By: Vivek Gupta

By using UID numbers, the Food and Supplies Department has identified 35,000 families which were drawing subsidised kerosene in spite of the fact that they had LPG connections. By stopping their supply, an annual saving of Rs 5 crore has been made.

In mid-2014, the department began a survey in order to make Chandigarh kerosene-free on the pattern of Delhi, the first kerosene-free city in the country. The officials were surprised to find that the number of kerosene users was as high as 62,000, whereas in a big city like Delhi the number was not more than 1 lakh.

Soon, the Government of India introduced the Direct Benefits Transfer for LPG (DBTL) users, linking Aadhaar cards with LPG connections.

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“With the DBTL scheme, we got a way to find duplication in the system which earlier was not possible to detect due to the lack of any foolproof mechanism,” said Danish Ashraf, joint director of the Department of Food and Supplies.

The department first gathered the list of all those registered under the DBTL scheme in the city. Next, it asked kerosene depots to collect the Aadhaar numbers of ration-card holders getting kerosene.

“When we compared the two lists, common names surfaced which showed that a huge quantity of subsidised kerosene was drawn by those with LPG connections,” Ashraf said.

Under rules, those having LPG connections are not entitled to get subsidised kerosene. Therefore, names of all such consumers were struck off the list. This has brought down the number of beneficiaries from 62,000 to 17,000. Among them nearly 10,000 were those beneficiaries who had single LPG gas connection who were debarred from subsidy with effect from April 1.

“A proposal has been moved to the Central government to give subsidised LPG connections to those left in order to make the city kerosene-free,” said Ashraf. The matter is currently under consideration of the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Food Inspector Sushil Kumar said kerosene consumption in the city had come down from 7.80 lakh litre to 2.76 lakh litre per quarter. This had led to an annual saving of Rs 5 crore, since the Central government bears a subsidy of Rs 33 per litre on kerosene, which is sold to users at Rs 15 per litre.

2371 - Montek: Pilots to pave way for Aadhaar-based models - Business Standard

BS Reporter / Feb 08, 2012, 00:29 IST

Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chaiman of the Planning Commission, told Business Standard the success of pilot projcts to test its ideas would pave way for Aadhar-based entitlements and subsidy disbursal. “When the pilots work, politicians and people running governments will see what the experiment is doing,” he said. Ahluwalia stressed the Commission had constantly said this must be done and the finance minister had also announced it would begin as an experiment in the case of kerosene supply. “Nandan (UIDAI chairman) is working on that. They are already doing it for MGNREGS in Jharkhand. We have hundreds of schemes and it’s not logical to start it everywhere when you have one or two pilots available. The moment one pilot is deemed to have succeeded, there would be nothing to stop it,” he said. Adding: “I think they are going to do the same thing with kerosene. So, give it another six months, and my guess is that a very comprehensive assessment will be possible. Do the people, the ‘aam aadmi’ for whom this is being done, appreciate it? Experience in our situation suggest that when the people want something to be done, no government is going to fail to respond, especially if that is the government scheme,” he said.

1166 - Govt plan: fuel, farm subsidy as direct cash transfers - Source: Indian Express

Tue Feb 15 2011, 05:05 hrs
New Delhi:

The government plans to provide kerosene, cooking gas and fertiliser subsidy to the poor by direct cash transfers on a pilot basis before the end of the current calendar year, 2011.

For the current year, according to Budget documents, petroleum and fertiliser subsidies add up to Rs. 53,000 crore.

The Finance Ministry today set up a task force under Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, to evolve a method for handing out such subsidies straight to individuals, families and farmers.

The direct transfers will also be aligned with the unique identification number that the UIDAI has started issuing. It will submit an interim report within the next four months.

This task force will also design appropriate IT systems and align these with the issuance of UID numbers, and bring about changes in the “administration and supply chain management,” the Ministry said in a statement.