Aadhaar a must to avail most subsidies: Ravi Shankar Prasad

NEW DELHI: The Aadhaar number will be needed for availing subsidises and entitlements offered by the centre and state governments, if the expenditure is fully or partly incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India, according to communication and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The Centre spends around Rs 3.5 lakh crore on subsidies and entitlements under several welfare schemes. The new Aadhar Act will ensure the UID scheme is linked to payments incurred by states for schemes with a central component.

So far state governments have also shown a keen interest in using the Aadhaar platform for delivering benefits, services and subsides with many of them supporting the centre’s case in the Supreme Court. The government now intends to use the success to seek the SC’s nod for wider use of the UID scheme.

“All subsidies partially or fully funded by the Centre will come under the Aadhaar Act,” he said. “Only subsidies, cost of which are fully borne by states, won’t come under the Aadhaar law,” he added. Prasad told TOI the new law kills the “mandatory versus voluntary debate” as it did not prohibit anyone from accepting government benefits, but it encourages the use of Aadhaar.