Journalism of Courage
The National Advisory Council continued to remain sceptical about the implementation of Aadhaar scheme and Direct Benefits Transfer project even as Unique Identification Authority of India chairman Nandan Nilekani made a presentation during its meeting on Tuesday to address concerns.
While divisions persisted within the NAC about the projects,it was unanimous in agreeing that the government should refrain from rushing through with them or making Aadhaar mandatory. The NAC was of the view that the DBT should not be used as a substitute for services.
There was general consensus that Aadhaar and DBT need to be debated much more before we can roll them out. Also,Aadhaar should be voluntary rather than being a compulsion, a member said.
Sources said Nilekani seemed to confer with the view that UID should not be mandatory. He admitted there were some technical glitches which needed to be addressed first and agreed that Aadhaar should have a legal framework.
Some members like Aruna Roy,have been opposing the projects at a fundamental level. We are against Aadhaar and DBT per se… even if they have to be implemented… the government should not rush through with them, said Roy.
