Savings from Aadhaar can fund three schemes of the size of Ayushman Bharat (Universal Health Benefit Scheme), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said here on Sunday.
In the last 28 months, over 122 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued.
In a blog, Jaitley said that use of Aadhaar helped save over ₹90,000 crore by March 2018. It helped eliminate several duplicate, non-existent and fake beneficiaries. “The Digital Dividend Report prepared by the World Bank estimates that India can save ₹77,000 crore every year by the use of Aadhaar. The savings through Aadhaar can fund three schemes of the size of Ayushman Bharat,” Jaitley wrote.
Jaitley admitted that though the concept of UID was conceived and implemented during the previous regime, it was non-statutory. There was no law governing it. This triggered a serious legal challenge. “The UPA itself was a divided house. While Nandan Nilekani pushed hard, a senior Minister blocked it. The Prime Minister was indecisive. The enrolment continued, though at a very moderate pace,” he said.
He also said that when BJP was in opposition, it had some reservation especially with regard to non-citizens being enrolled. However, when the NDA Government was formed, a detailed presentation was made. “At the conclusion of the presentation, the Prime Minister consulted others present and, decisive, as he is, immediately took the decision to go ahead with the idea of Aadhaar,” he said.
Jaitley also explained the legality of the legislation proposed by the previous regime. It provided for the methodology by which the UID would be issued. It did not contain adequate safeguards on privacy. It did not mention for which purpose the UID would be used. The NDA Government re-examined the issue and the legislation was completely changed. “The pith and substance of the new law was that Government spends a large part of the public resources in subsidising the poor, “he said.
The Finance Minister also mentioned that this subsidy became an indefinite amount which is given to an unidentified section of the people. There are many claimants who don’t exist. Several others are not entitled to it. There are several cases of duplication and thus the unique identity based on biometrics would eliminate these aberrations and relief would travel only to the intended. This was the thrust of the new law. After the new law was passed in Parliament it was challenged before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court upheld the whole concept of unique identity and rejected the challenge that it violated the Right to Privacy. “The judgment of the Supreme Court added balance to the concept of Aadhaar,” he said.