‘Govt to bring all schemes under Direct Benefit Transfer by December’
NEW DELHI: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has set December 2016 as a deadline to bring all government schemes under Direct Benefit Transfer — where subsidies will be transferred directly to the beneficiary’s bank account. The account will be linked to Aadhaar, the 12-digit biometric-based unique identity number. UIDAI CEO ABP Pandey spoke to HT about the scheme. Excerpts:
Civil society campaigners are protesting against Aadhaar being made mandatory for availing services. Congress MPs raised the issue in the monsoon session. Your views? The Aadhaar Act actually protects beneficiaries and receivers of service. Section 7 of the Act says the state may require Aadhaar for confirming the identity of the person availing the services. But in case somebody does not have an Aadhaar, he/she can enrol and avail benefits by alternate means of identification till he/she gets the number.
What is the target for giving Aadhaar number to all?
The deadline for completing all enrolments is March 2017. It’s December 2016 for bringing all schemes under Direct Benefit Transfer.
Recently there was government circular saying Aadhaar is a must for those availing scholarship.
The school education department has issued instructions that principals will have to prepare a list for all scholarship applicants and help those who does not have Aadhaar cards to get one. If there is a complaint that students have not got scholarships because they did not have Aadhar, the principal will be held responsible.
When will the rules for Aadhaar Act be notified? Only when the chairman and members are appointed. It will happen very soon, within a few weeks.
How can having Aadhaar help in making government business paperless and cut down on physical presence?
In Maharashtra, for instance, the state government has amended its rules. If you want your rental agreements registered then you don’t have to go to the registrar’s office. You can do it from wherever you want through fingerprint authentication. The landlord can also do it the same way. So all parties at different places at different points of time can authenticate by biometrics and the document is registered. There could be many other government services where certain types of transactions can be carried out similarly. It is all left to the imagination of people…. perhaps, they can open their bank account online through fingerprint authentication if RBI makes changes in its rules. What we have demonstrated is that it is possible to do this and is legally also feasible. If Maharashtra can do it, others can too. As the country’s Dalits join hands to protest about the state of their lives, dignity and future, I can’t but help think about how it all began: with cow vigilantes, whose tribe the prime minister later dissed. Across the country, people are being beaten up if suspected of violating the sacred nature of the cow. But the cow vigilantes have got it wrong.
The violence a cow experiences is not that it is slaughtered. Heavy rain in Madhya Pradesh claimed 15 lives, even as the Met department predicted less rain in the coming days. CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday assured help for those affected. In Bihar, rising level of the Ganga created a flood-like situation. The level is likely to go up after the release of water from Bansagar dam. Around 15,000 people were shifted to relief camps. In Varanasi, flood water submerged two cremation ghats, Manikarnika and Harishchandra, forcing people to perform last rites in nearby lanes and on roofs.
VIGILANTES SHOULD