Aadhaar to be linked to social schemes from 2015

NEW DELHI: To link Aadhaar number with disbursement of welfare funds from the next financial year, the Prime Minister’s Office has asked the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and National Population Register (NPR) to advance enrolment of all eligible residents from June to March 2015.

The move is part of the bigger agenda to plug leakages in the social sector schemes aimed at better fiscal management. It is also aimed at incorporating the concept of Aadhaar based direct benefit transfer for all government expenditure worth ` 3,00,000 crore every year from the next fiscal, which would radically change administration of poorly managed government schemes.

A Planning Commission study in 2012 had shown that Aadhaar can save ` 50,000 crore of public money in three years once all 1.2 crore eligible residents were enrolled.

Fraud or duplication is not possible under the Aadhaar system where authentication of one’s number and demographic details are easily possible. “It is anytime, anywhere online authentication system that enables checking fraud in less than 10 seconds,” a UIDAI official said.