Aadhaar scheme helped government save Rs 34,000 crore: Finance Secy

NEW DELHI: Finance secretary Ashok Lavasa has termed “revolutionary” the Aadhaar card scheme, saying it has helped the government save Rs 34,000 crore.

Lavasa’s strong defence of the scheme, which aims to provide unique identity numbers to all citizens, came at a time when a debate is raging over the security of personal data collected from the citizens for the programme. “This platform of Aadhaar, which has been created should not be undermined.... Aadhaar seeding has brought more efficiency,” Lavasa said at an Assocham event on Wednesday.

The government has proposed to make Aadhaar mandatory for securing a permanent account number and for filing income-tax returns from July.


Lavasa said Aadhaar has provided identity to 105 crore people and that there is a distinct possibility of the Aadhaar number emerging as a single identity for the citizens.

“It has a huge potential of changing many of the procedures which we had to observe while conducting business,” he said. He said the governance reforms carried out over the last three years aim to make the system more transparent and less arbitrary.

Lavasa pointed that Aadhaar was linked to a whole gamut of public expenditure, which is a matter of concern not only for those who want more efficiency in public spending but also those concerned with transparency and removal of corruption.

He said Aadhaar seeding had brought efficiency and transparency in implementation of public schemes. He said the direct benefit transfer ( DBT) using the Aadhaar has had a significant impact.

“There has been some palpable achievement in DBT.... Order of saving would be Rs 34,000 crore,” he said, adding that the DBT has already been implemented in 78 schemes. The finance secretary highlighted how Haryana has managed to interlink the kerosene and LPG subsidy beneficiaries through the Aadhaar and is now aiming to become kerosene free in April.