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Aadhaar, Modi’s magical wand

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Union minister for electronics & information technology and law & justice Ravi Shankar Prasad addresses a press conference on the ‘Achievements of UIDAI’, in New Delhi on January 27. Also seen are minister of state for electronics & information technology and law & justice PP Chaudhary, secretary, ministry of electronics & information technology, Aruna Sundararajan and the director general and mission director, UIDAI, Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]111 crore UID card-holders; NDA government basks in the warmth of sunny numbers

By Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr

Minister for Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad seemed and sounded a happy man. He beamed and announced that the number of people in the country who now possess the Aaadhaar number stands at 111 crore out of a population of 125 crore. Remember that 125 crore Indians is the constant refrain of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s never-ending loud litany of the achievements of his less-than-three-year-old government. So 111 crore is music to the ears of this over-enthusiastic government.

Prasad rolled out the numbers at a press conference on Friday afternoon at Electronics Niketan here. Describing the government as a “Government of transformation”, and specifying the effort of the government as one of bridging the “digital divide”, he referred to Aaadhaar as the bridge that will decrease and then do away with the divide.

The minister acknowledged that the Aadhaar was the previous government’s (Congress-led UPA under prime minister Manmohan Singh), but he said that under the previous regime it was a mere digital identity marker and nothing more, that it was PM Modi who had used it effectively to make it a tool for financial and social inclusion.

He said now 99 per cent of the adults in the country have an Aadhaar card, and very soon the rest of the non-adults will come under its ambit as well. He explained in detail how Aaadhaar has been dovetailed to push for the less-cash economy, and synchronizing bank accounts with the Aadhaar number, as well as using it for targeting subsidies and for enabling transactions even without ban accounts and debit cards.

But as he revealed the numbers of Aadhaar-synced bank accounts and subsidies, it became clear that there is a quite a distance to cover. What is indisputable is that this government has pushed the Aadhaar enrolment at a great speed. On May 31, 2014 there were 63.22 crore Aadhaar card-holders. That number stood at 111 crore on January 27, 2017, which was an exact increase of 47.8 crore during the ongoing NDA tenure.

The number of Aadhaar card-holders linked to bank accounts was 6.7 crore on May 31, 2014, but it leapt to 38.51 crore by January 15, 2017. Similarly, the Direct Beneficiary Transfer (DBT), which was again a UPA government initiative, stood at a relatively minuscule Rs 6.3 crore on May 31, 2014, it stands at Rs 150.71 crore on January 15, 2017.

It just goes to show that the Modi government has been efficient in carrying forward the initiatives of the UPA government with near speed of light, a hyperbole no doubt but this government has this manic feeling in every good it does, but that it has not done anything new on its own. Even in the matter of banks linked to Aadhaar facility, the figure stood at 311 in May 2014 and it moved up to 869 on January 15, 2017. It is fancifully described in the press release as Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB).

There is no doubt that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Modi embraced Aadhaar without reservations. Under the UPA government, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDA) under Nandan Nilekani, one of the founders of information technology major, was set up in 2009 and it attached to the now disbanded Planning Commission. The NDA government under Modi brought in a legislation by which it turned UIDAI into a statutory authority through the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, and it was brought under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).  [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Sunita Kejriwal holds maiden Lok Sabha election roadshow in Delhi

Sunita Kejriwal will also hold a road show in West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency on Sunday. AAP party leaders said Sunita Kejriwal will also spearhead the campaign for AAP candidates in South Delhi and New Delhi constituencies as well as in Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab.

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Aam Aadmi Party began its campaign for 3rd phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024 on Saturday with Sunita Kejriwal, wife of jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal holding a roadshow in Delhi. In a massive rally, Sunita Kejriwal was be seen standing on a vehicle holding her hands and greeting the people of the area. AAP’s East Delhi candidate Kuldeep Kumar was seen sitting on the vehicle as he showcased a portrait of Rani Laxmibai.

Earlier ahead of Sunita Kejrieal’s roadshow, Kuldeep Kumar told the media that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who worked to provide the best school, and free- electricity to the people of Delhi has been framed in a fake case by BJP. Kumar further added that from today onwards Sunita Kejriwal’s roadshow will start and she is going to seek support and blessings from the Delhi people to continue its fight against the BJP government.

Aam Aadmi Party workers also staged a protest under the banner of Jail ka jawab vote se near Delhi’s Lakshmi Nagar area on Saturday against the arrest of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in connection with an excise policy case.

After the Delhi CM’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the liquor policy case in March, Sunita Kejriwal has taken up a more prominent role in campaigning activities for the Aam Aadmi Party. Since the Delhi CM’s arrest, Atishi and other AAP leaders have alleged that the arrest was made so that to the AAP Supremo can be prevented from campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections. Arvind Kejriwal has been sent to judicial custody until May 7.

Sunita Kejriwal will also hold a road show in West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency on Sunday. AAP party leaders said Sunita Kejriwal will also spearhead the campaign for AAP candidates in South Delhi and New Delhi constituencies as well as in Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab. She is emerging as a star campaigner for Aam Aadmi Party.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Mallikarjun Kharge says candidates for Amethi, Rae Bareli seats in Uttar Pradesh will be announced in a few days

On being asked about the names of the candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies Mallikarjun Kharge said the people will have to wait for a few more days. He said when the names of candidates come from people to him and he will sign the notification, then the announcement will be made.

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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said that the candidates for prestigious Amethi and Rae Bareli seats in Uttar Pradesh will be announced in a few days. He was addressing a press conference where he claimed that though the BJP says the corrupt must be put in jails, when leaders facing corruption charges join the saffron party, they are put on the lap and sent to Rajya Sabha or assembly.

On being asked about the names of the candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies he said the people will have to wait for a few more days. He said when the names of candidates come from people to him and he will sign the notification, then the announcement will be made.

On being questioned about Congress leaders changing constituencies Kharge asked how many times have Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani changed their seats. His response came when asked about the BJP criticising Rahul Gandhi for fighting the elections from Kerala’s Wayanad instead of Amethi. Referring to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Kharge said the Congress is not affected by people who grew up in the party and left it later.

The Congress president launched an all round attack on the BJP and PM Modi and said the prime minister did not implement even one of his electoral promises and still says Modi did a lot of work for the country. Addressing the press conference he said the BJP never fought for the independence of India, but Congress is a party of those who made India independent. He said the BJP never fought for the independence of India, for the development of India. The Congress President said the BJP speaks so much about patriotism and that the contribution of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri is nothing before them.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Priyanka Gandhi accuses BJP of planning to change the Constitution, criticises PM Modi for inflation

Priyanka Gandhi was speaking at an election rally at Dharampur village of tribal dominated Valsad district held in support of Congress candidate for ST-reserved Valsad Lok Sabha seat, Anant Patel.

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Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday said the BJP may be denying it now, but the party will change the Constitution if it returns to power. She targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over inflation and called him the mehengai man.

Gandhi said the BJP leaders and candidates are saying that they will change the Constitution. She said PM Modi is denying it and this is BJP’s tactic. Priyanka Gandhi was speaking at an election rally at Dharampur village of tribal dominated Valsad district, Gujarat held in support of Congress candidate for ST-reserved Valsad Lok Sabha seat, Anant Patel.

Gandhi said first the BJP will deny what they want to do. But after coming to power they will implement it. She further added the BJP wants to change the constitution to weaken the common people and deprive them of their rights given in the Constitution. She said the BJP leaders project the Prime Minister as powerful and say that chutki bajake ladai rukwa dete hai (he can stop the Russia- Ukraine war with the snap of his fingers). She asked why is Prime Minister unable to remove poverty just like that?

Priyanka Gandhi claimed the tribal population in Gujarat which is Modi’s home state and the whole country is suffering from issues like rising inflation, unemployment, low remumberation, loss of land, violence against women and other atrocities. She highlighted the Congress manifesto and said it addresses issues faced by the tribal population.

She assured the people that the Congress will bring schemes like MGNREGA for urban areas where families will get 100 days of guaranteed work. She said the Congress is committed to filing about 30 lakh vacancies in government jobs, providing subsidised diesel to fishermen and take the minimum wage to Rs 400. Gandhi said the Congress is going to work out sub plans for Scheduled Tribes and scheduled castes.

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