Solve Technical Problems In Aadhaar Linkage In Assam: Union Minister

Union minister Giriraj Singh on Friday asked the Assam government to resolve technical problems in linking Aadhaar with bank accounts of beneficiaries of schemes under his rural development and panchayati raj ministry, so that they can avail the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) facility.

The Union government has made DBT mandatory for availing benefits under Central schemes to ensure greater transparency and linking of bank accounts of the beneficiaries with Aadhaar is also compulsory, Singh said adding that there are some problems in Assam in this regard.

"Whatever technical problem is there, the government of Assam will take care of it," he said.

The Union minister did not elaborate on the issue. However, over 27 lakh NRC applicants in the state are facing problems in generating their Aadhaar numbers as their biometric details were locked.

Their biometric details were collected during the claims and objections phase while updating the National Register of Citizens, prior to the publishing of the document"s final draft on August 31, 2019. However, it is yet to be notified by the Registrar General of India (RGI).

This data has since been frozen pending completion of the NRC, leaving these people unable to generate their Aadhaar numbers, which has also reportedly led to problems in availing benefits under various government schemes.

State Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass had earlier said that more than 68 per cent of Aadhaar generation has been completed in the state, with the government setting a target of 100 per cent coverage by October this year.

However, it was not clear whether the NRC applicants whose biometric details has been frozen will be able to get their unique identification numbers before completion of the NRC as the updating process is monitored by the Supreme Court.

The state government has informed the assembly on August 7 that the matter has been raised with the RGI and the Union home secretary.

Singh reviewed progress of various schemes under his ministry on the second day of his three-day visit to the state.

He told reporters that the rate of implementation of schemes and coverage of beneficiaries has gone up exponentially in Assam as well as the country since Narendra Modi became the prime minister in 2014.

A BJP-led coalition came to power in Assam in 2016.

Singh said 7.20 lakh houses have been built in the state under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in the last five years against about 2 lakh houses in the last five years of the Congress rule from 2009.

"The per unit cost of each house has been increased by our government from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1.50 lakh," he said.

All households will be connected with tap water within the next five years under the Jal Jeevan Mission, Singh said.

He also said a target has been set to provide mentoring and hand-holding to 30 lakh women of the state through self-help groups so that they can engage in economically sustainable and viable livelihoods.

Altogether 280 projects to convert non-cultivable land into arable land is nearing completion in the state, while digitisation of land records is also progressing fast, he said. PTI