Govt likely to use Aadhar to cut SSA flab

A Rs 2,000 crore saving made by Maharashtra government using Aadhar-based identification to cut down on bogus student enrollments has made government mandarins in Delhi optimistic that they can now cut down funds for welfare programmes while improving the delivery mechanism.

To do this, the Centre is also planning to get all students registered under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to be provided an Aadhar-based identity. The revamped programme could be rolled out in the next academic year, said top government officials involved with the expenditure plans.

"We are holding discussions with the ministry of human resource development. Using UID will help weed out fake students from the SSA," a senior finance ministry official told The Indian Express. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan costs the Centre about Rs 25,515 crore each year and about the same from the states to universalise elementary expenditure but like most expenditure programme is riddled with leakages.

The move is a bunch of measures that have begun to show results in the delivery of government programmes. As a result, the Centre can confidently keep the funding for major programmes that cost it Rs 5,21,025 crore in 2012-13 almost constant but make the spend far more effective.

For instance, an equally effective pilot project on Aadhar-linked cash transfer in Alwar, Rajasthan, has also made the officers excited as it provides a key breakthrough in oil subsidy. By providing cash transfers to the target population instead of making them line up in ration shops, the district has seen a significant drop in the sales of the product. Sales dropped by 79 per cent in December 2011 against the same month a year ago in the district. After the drive was intensified, kerosene sales have turned into a trickle in the area. It is turning out that almost 100 per cent of the ration card holders in the district for subsidised kerosene were fake. "This shows that using Aadhar-enabled transfers helped stop fake sales," the official pointed out.

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