UID-linked cash transfer worries 4 NAC members

While Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi is pitching for direct cash transfer scheme as a "game changer" welfare mechanism, members of Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council have expressed their reservations against the UID-linked direct cash transfer project.

Four members of the NAC — Deep Joshi, A K Shiva Kumar, Farah Naqvi and Aruna Roy — along with former NAC members Jean Dreze and MS Swaminathan Wednesday expressed reservations against the UID-linked direct cash transfer project.

More than 200 academician and activists, including NAC members, issued a statement saying they "oppose" the government's plan for "accelerated mass conversion of welfare schemes to UID-driven cash transfers".

They, however, expressed their support to the cash transfer mechanism for welfare schemes like old age pensions, widow pensions, maternity entitlements and scholarships.

But they registered their objection to UID-linked welfare entitlements under public distribution system and UPA's flagship NREGS, saying "UID should never be a condition for anyone to access any entitlements or public services".

"An impression has been created that the government is all set to launch UID-enabled cash transfers on a mass scale before the 2014 elections. This is very misleading, and looks like an attempt to make people rush to UID enrolment centres," the statement said.

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