Aadhaar helped govt save over Rs 2 lakh crore

On June 1, NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amitabh Kant dubbed Aadhaar one of the world’s “most successful” biometric-based identity initiatives. The “bedrock” for the government’s welfare initiatives has saved the government over ₹2 lakh crore by “eliminating fake and duplicate identities”, he said. “Aadhaar has become the bedrock for government welfare schemes, ensured faster benefit transfers without any intervention or intermediaries and saved a vast amount of money.,” Kant stated during a session on “Recent Initiatives for Simplifying Aadhaar usage” in the national capital.

“It is commendable to know that 315 Central Schemes and 500 state schemes are leveraging Aadhaar to ensure effective delivery of services…Aadhaar has now become the bedrock for government welfare schemes, ensuring faster benefit transfers without any interruption or intermediaries, saving ₹2.22 lakh crore rupees to the government by eliminating fake and duplicate identities,” the NITI Aayog CEO said.

According to Amitabh Kant, Aadhaar has generated discussions and dialogues with worldwide multilateral bodies like the World Bank and the United Nations to see how the Aadhaar architecture could be adopted in other nations.

The central government has previously withdrawn a UIDAI advisory warning people not to share photocopies of their Aadhaar with any organisation. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) announced that the press release would be withdrawn due to the risk of misinterpretation.

The press information bureau removed the warning two days after it was issued, claiming that the release was issued in the context of an attempt to misappropriate a modified Aadhaar card and that it was being withdrawn “in view of the possibility of the misinterpretation”. According to the revised statement, the Aadhaar ecosystem has appropriate measures to secure users’ identity and privacy, and users should just exercise “normal prudence.” Livemint