Tripura to ask CBI to probe Aadhaar fund utilisation

The Tripura government will approach the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the alleged irregularities of central funds in execution of the ambitious  "Aadhaar" scheme, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar announced Thursday.

Responding to the opposition Congress' persistent demands, Sarkar announced in the state assembly that the state government would request the CBI to investigate alleged irregularities in implementation of the 12-digit number being issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for all Indian residents.

"We would take up the matter with the CBI and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to examine whether any misdeeds occurred in spending the central funds meant for 'Aadhaar' scheme," he said.

Earlier, in reply to queries of Leader of Opposition Ratan Lal Nath, Rural Development Minister Jitendra Chowdhury told the house that no wrongdoing was found in the spending of Rs.15 crore, allocated by the central government to implement the scheme.

Opposition Congress and its legislators led by Nath inside and outside the house have been alleging a scam of Rs.8 crore in implementing the scheme in the state. Nath had also written a letter to Sarkar demanding a CBI inquiry into the alleged scam.

The issue has rocked the state politics since the beginning of this year.

The rural development department in Tripura is the nodal department to implement the scheme.

"In Tripura, around 90 percent of the 3.7 million population have so far been enrolled in Aadhaar scheme," Choudhury said.

Quoting a communique of the union rural development ministry, the minister said: "The central government, at a function in New Delhi recently awarded Tripura and other well performing states in implementation of the Aadhaar scheme."

Tripura was the first state in the northeast and the eighth in India where the Aadhaar scheme was launched on Dec 2, 2010.