Gujarat Assembly passes Aadhaar Bill, 2017

The Gujarat Assembly has passed Gujarat Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2017.
The bill seeks to empower the state government to use Aadhaar number as the sole identifier for the delivery of various subsidies and benefits in an effective and targeted manner. 

Key Facts

• By linking the Aadhhaar number with various schemes will help the state government create a credible system to authenticate the identity of actual beneficiaries.
• As of now, Gujarat government provides various subsidies and financial assistance to the citizens under 119 schemes using RTGS or through cheques.
• This bill will ensure more accurate, targeted and efficient delivery of such disbursements using Aadhaar number.
• All the residents of Gujarat above 18 years have been issued Aadhaar cards, moreover 85% citizens in the age group of 5 to 18 have been issued such cards having unique identification number.

Background
The Bill has been framed as per the Central Aadhaar Act, passed by the Parliament in 2016. The central act empowers the state governments to introduce similar laws for targeted delivery of subsidies and benefits by linking Aadhaar number of each beneficiary.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2017