Government says no one should be deprived of benefits because of lack of an Aadhaar card

Re-iterating it’s stance that the Aadhaar card is not mandatory for the citizens of the country, the Government issued a statement that benefits will be continued to be provided to individuals through alternate means of identification, till such time as they get an Aadhaar card. Several welfare schemes funded from the Consolidated Fund of India use Aadhaar identification for transparent delivery. While the schemes require the beneficiaries to provide their Aadhaar numbers if they have one, it has been ensured that no one will be deprived of benefits for the lack of an Aadhaar card. For example, for the Mid Day Meal Program under the Integrated Child Development Scheme requires schools and Aanganwadis to submit the Aadhaar numbers of the children who benefit from the scheme. If a child does not yet have an Aadhaar number, the schools and Aanganwadis have been instructed to help the children registered with an Aadhaar ID. Till the time the registration occurs, the benefits from the Mid Day Meal Program have been ordered to continue. The Aadhaar identification ensures that the benefits reach the intended individuals, and are not siphoned away by malicious third parties. Various studies and surveys have pointed out massive leakages in welfare schemes organised by the government. One of the main success stories of Aadhaar is to ensure that food grains are received by intended beneficiaries and not diverted by middle men and unscrupulous elements. The Government has said that over Rs 49,000 cr has been saved in the just the few schemes where Aadhaar identification has been used to plug leaks.