Aadhaar Helped Govt. To Save Rs 90,000 Crore; 3 Crore Indians Using Aadhaar Every Day!
Govt. has also informed that to avail benefits of Ayushman Health Scheme, Aadhaar is must.
As per some interesting reports coming in, Aadhaar has enabled massive savings of Rs 90,000 crore, ever since it came into the picture.
It was revealed that 3 crore Indian citizens are using Aadhaar daily, and 10 lakh people are enrolling, updating their Aadhaar every day.
However, fresh concerns regarding the safety and security of Aadhaar data has come into picture as well.
Rs 90,000 Crore Saved Due To Aadhaar!
During an event conducted by Indian School of Business (ISB), UIDAI Chairman J. Satyanarayana shared some stunning numbers related with Aadhaar usage in India.
Satyanarayana informed that daily 3 crore Indians are using Aadhaar in some way or other, for instance transacting using Aadhaar pay, or accessing Govt. schemes using their Aadhaar number and more.
Collectively, more than Rs 90,000 crore has been saved by the Govt., due to the implementation of Aadhaar across the nation.
4 main areas where Aadhaar is being used are: ration, pension, rural employment, and scholarships.
Rs 90,000 crore which have been saved by Indian Govt. belongs to Departments of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Food & Public Distribution, Rural Development and others.
He said, “We will need further research in creating more efficient bio-metric identification systems; security of Aadhaar eco-system; improvement in processes of enrolment, updating, and authentication; operation in areas with challenged networks and use of artificial intelligence and machine learning for fraud detection and prevention.”
The savings are indeed enormous, considering that the Govt. has not even spent Rs 10,000 crore on the execution and implementation of Aadhaar across the nation.
As per Satyanarayana, 121 crore Indians have enrolled for Aadhaar as of now.
Aadhaar Must For Ayushman Scheme?
Meanwhile Healthy Ministry has issued a circular, which states that beneficiaries of the Ayushman Health Scheme will need to enroll for Aadhaar, else the benefits won’t be granted.
Under the Ayushman Health Scheme, which is World’s largest healthcare program, every financially vulnerable family in India will be allocated Rs 5,00,000 as medical coverage.
This health support will be provided under secondary and tertiary care hospitalization, and 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centres shall be established all over the nation.
However, as per the latest notification, if families and their members are not enrolling for Aadhaar before March 31, 2019, they won’t be able to access the benefits if this health care program.
The circular said, “A beneficiary eligible for receiving the benefits under the scheme shall be required to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo Aadhaar authentication.”
As per the logic presented, the funding of this massive healthcare program, hailed as World’s largest such program, will be derived from Consolidated Fund of India.
And this is the reason it falls under the purview of Aadhaar Act, 2016.
Interestingly, Supreme Court has already stated that lack of Aadhaar cannot be the reason to deny basic, essential services by the Govt.
We will keep you updated, as receive more information.
