JOIN USPrime Minister Manmohan Singh will launch the Aadhaar scheme at Dudu in Rajasthan on Saturday, to implement the Aadhaar-enabled direct cash transfer scheme to beneficiaries of government welfare schemes in 51 districts in the country by mid-next year.
“At Dudu only, Aadhaar enabled system of social sector, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and pension scheme will be implemented”, UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) chairman Nandan Nilekani told reporters here. By next June-July, the government was planning to implement the Aadhaar enabled services delivery in 51 districts in the country where the Aadhaar enrollment was expected to be complete by March 31, 2013.
The 51 districts including Mysore, Tumkur and Dharwad in Karnataka, all welfare schemes including PDS distribution, MGNREGS, pension, scholarship and distribution of subsidised LPG, would also be implemented.
Once the Aadhaar-enabled services delivery system was implemented, it would help to plug leakages and ensure that the beneficiary directly got the benefit, he said.
By March 2014, UIDAI has been mandated to cover a total population of 60 crore across 18 states including Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.
In the last two years, the UIDAI has generated over 20 crore Aadhaar numbers. The prime minister will hand over the 21st crore Aadhaar number to a Dudu resident at a function.
The UPA government is making this a big event as its top brass including alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Minister of State for Communications Sachin Pilot and Planning Minister Ashwani Kumar will attend the meet. Before implementing the delivery system at Dudu, UIDAI has been conducting pilot projects in different parts of the country and Mysore is one among them.