Aadhaar juggernaut rolls on well

Last few months have seen frenetic action on the aadhaar front. UPI commercial launch was followed by the actual end user launch on 25th August. After UPI went live there were several news reports that proclaimed that it is going to be a revolution in cashless transactions. A couple of months later now it has become clear that reaching 15 million users and 1 million daily transactions will take at least six to seven more months.
Somethings that hold significance have occurred in recent past. Aadhaar bill that was voted in parliament has come into force. Even the GST bill is passed by both houses of parliament.

One more important event that indicates the things to come in future was the meeting on 27th july,2016 of tech giants(google,microsoft) with the CEO of UIDAI. In the meeting details of which were all across the papers were that UIDAI is demanding chip level security guarantees of privacy for authentication on their devices. Microsoft has partnered with the government on aadhaar and has announced skype integration with aadhaar auth. Microsoft has got its data centers in India accredited by the government. It has also partnered with the government on skills training.

Google on its part has kept its plans under cover though it has partnered the government and sponsored wifi at a few railway stations. It has tried enhancing access to the internet for the common man. This is something even facebook is doing. One suggestion the government has steadfastly rejected is involvement of telecom companies and and multinational corporations in the NOFN project. I think this is very important as far as increasing access to information is concerned and eventually the success of the Digital India mission.

As far as DBT is concerned FY 2015-2016 saw transfers of 61,000 crore to accounts of nearly 30 crore people. This includes over ₹25,000 crore in MGNREGS and over ₹21,000 crore in PAHAL (for cooking gas). If you calculate, on an average 2k has gone to one aadhaar number or person. It is the goal of the government that benefits of social programs have to reach those in need. Another stated goal is to achieve social security for all. Under fiscal constraints it would be a challenge to strike a balance between social security for all and channeling benefits only to the needy. The government is readying a plan to provide security for the unorganized sector(majorly self employed) which employs more than 80% of those employed in the industry.

Mudra loans meant to be given to the micro units has seen decent success. Mudra loans amounting to 1 lakh 32 thousand crore were disbursed by banks and finance institutions. They come in three varieties, shishu(50k), kishore(5 lakh) and tarun(10 lakh). Mundra agency has made a profit of 66 crore in the first year of operation.

News reports coming in show that government has saved 27k crore or about 4 billion dollars in the last two financial years. Over 1.6 crore bogus ration cards have been deleted, resulting in savings of about ₹10,000 crore. Similarly, 3.5 crore duplicate beneficiaries were weeded out in the PAHAL scheme, resulting in savings of over ₹14,000 crore in 2014-15 alone. In Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) too, a saving of ₹3,000 crore (roughly 10 per cent) has been estimated in 2015-16.

Food, fertilizer and kerosene which form more than 80% of the 3 lakh crore subsidy budget once brought under the DBT fold would lead to savings of more than 40,000 crore a year.

A cautionary note is appropriate here. The recent CAG audit of saving estimate has punctured the government estimate of 14k crore savings in PAHAL and has suggested 2k crore as a plausible number. Even then the convenience with which people have been able to use aadhaar to authenticate say for example to get themselves a Jio connection does indicate its usefulness.