Business standard updates

UIDAI targets 80% Aadhaar enrolmentin 51 districts by Dec

BS REPORTER New Delhi, 19 October The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is targeting 80 per cent enrolment in the 51 districts covered by Aadhaar-based pilot projects by the end of this year. It plans to complete the enrolment by March-end. Tomorrow, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would launch the Aadhaar-enabled service delivery system in Dudu, Rajasthan. Aadhaar-enabled applications would be used for pension and scholarship payments, as well as those under the Public Distribution System and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. It is expected with an increase in Aadhaar penetration, the system would also be extended to cover subsidy and entitlement payments. While disclosing the details of the function to be held at Dudu, UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani said by 2014, at least one out of every two Indians would have Aadhaar numbers. He added tomorrow’s event would be attended by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. At the event, the prime minister would hand over the 210 millionth Aadhaar number. Nilekani said the total enrolment for Aadhaar stood at 240 million, adding this would exceed 600 million by 2014. Though Aadhaar enrolment has exceeded 50 per cent in many states, the number is very low in states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Till September, these states had recorded no enrolment. UIDAI officials said according to a Cabinet decision, the authority had to cover 16 states, while other regions would be covered under the National Population Registry (NPR). A few of the lowpenetration states were those covered under the NPR, and enrolment in these was expected to pick up pace soon, they added. The Aadhaar-based service delivery had already proved useful in the pilot projects underway, they said. Through a pilot project in Tumkur district of Karnataka, Indian Overseas Bank opened 40,000 accounts within a short period. Overall, 1,50,000 bank accounts have been opened through this mode across the country. On September 1, a pilot was launched in the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. The project covered 1,25,000 beneficiaries across 35,000 households and helped curb leakages in the Public Distribution System. A pilot project in Mysore helped deliver 50,000 liquefied petroleum gas cylinders through Aadhaar authentication. A project in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, is targeting pension payment under five special assistance schemes, while another project for the direct transfer of government money to Aadhaar-enabled bank accounts has been implemented in Mandai block, West Tripura District. PM to launch nationwide Aadhaar-based service system in Rajasthan today UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani at the occasion of second anniversary of Aadhaar, in New Delhi on Friday PHOTO: PTI

Sebi duty bound to take action against Sahara: SC BS REPORTER New Delhi, 19 October Refusing to grant more time to the Sahara group of investment companies, the Supreme Court today allowed the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to take action against the companies if they failed to provide details about some three crore investors from whom the companies raised ~24,000 crore. The court in its August 31 judgment had asked the two companies – Sahara India Real Estate Corporation and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation – to deposit with Sebi the amount collected and the original documents related to the investors. The Sahara group has been seeking more time to submit the documents in view of the massive data involved. Many investors are said to be untraceable and their money will go to the government. Sahara had failed to submit the data before the September 10 deadline, following which Sebi approached the court. When Sahara moved the court again today, a bench headed by Justice K S Radhakrishnan told the counsel that the case has been disposed of . Now the order should be implemented. If the firms default, their property could be attached and bank accounts frozen. Sahara earlier committed that it would submit all the documents by November end. It has already filed a review petition against the judgment, which had held that the optionally fully convertible debentures scheme through which the fund was raised was illegal. The court had appointed one of its retired judges, Justice B N Aggarwal, to supervise the implementation of the order. He has reportedly stated that Sahara has failed to hand over the documents to Sebi.