Bill to give statutory status to Aadhaar introduced

New Delhi : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday introduced the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill 2016 in the Lok Sabha as a money bill, with an aim to provide Aadhaar a statutory backing and make it the mainstay of the government’s direct benefit transfer (DBT) programme for subsidies was tabled in the House.

Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, objected to the bill being introduced as a money bill, saying the Congress is ready to cooperate on the bill, but it should not come as a money bill. In response, Jaitley said the bill is substantially different from what the opposition are talking about.

He said the substance of the bill is that whoever gets subsidies, will have to produce Aadhaar.

The bill seeks to provide for good governance, efficient, transparent, and targeted delivery of subsidies, benefits and services, the expenditure for which is incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India to individuals residing in India through assigning of unique identity numbers. (ANI)