ET view: Govt's move to delink fuel subsidy from Aadhaar a cowardly retreat

It is unfortunate that the government has decided to roll back using Aadhaar linked bank accounts to disburse cash subsidy on cooking gas.

Sure, it makes sense to limit the reform to areas with saturation coverage of Aadhaar, to obviate complaints that lack of Aadhaar deprives anyone of due subsidy. So, the sensible course would have been to discontinue the reform in places where Aadhaar enrolment remains patchy while continuing with it in a place like Delhi.

Cash subsidies disbursed straight to beneficiaries are superior, by far, to subsidised products, which end up in a thriving black market as often as in target beneficiary homes.