Prime Minister launches Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery

Press Information Bureau: Oct 22, 2012Highlights: 21 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated in 2 years: The 21st crore Aadhaar number was handed over to Smt. Vali, a resident of Meghwalon ka Mohalla, Kurawar, District Udaipur. UIDAI has generated 21 crore Aadhaar numbers since the issuance of the first Aadhaar number on Sep 29, 2010. Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery launched from Rajasthan: Lali Devi, Meera Devi, Banwari Lal and Birda Ram were among the first few beneficiaries in Rajasthan to get their entitlement using the Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery. Aadhaar Governance Awards: Prime Minister presented Aadhaar Governance awards to Amitabh Kaushal, Deputy Commissioner Ramgarh District, Jharkhand; Neetu Kumari Prasad, District Collector & A Babu, Joint Collector East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh and Kunal Kumar, District Collector, Aurangabad District, Maharashtra. Dudu (Rajasthan), October 20: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today launched Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery in Dudu, Rajasthan, to mark the 2nd anniversary of Aadhaar.

“Today we will be giving the 21st crore Aadhaar number to a resident of Dudu here in Rajasthan and also launch the Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery across the country so that benefits of various schemes reach residents. I would like to compliment UIDAI Chairman Shri Nandan Nilekani and his team for achieving so much in such a short duration,” said the Prime Minister.

On the occasion, the 21st crore Aadhaar number was given to Smt. Vali, Meghwalon ka Mohalla, Kurawar, District Udaipur.

Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson UPA, who was the Chief Guest at the launch ceremony, commended UIDAI on its achievements. “Aadhaar is the world’s largest social inclusion programme. It was the dream of Rajivji the power of technology be used for the benefit of Aam Admi . The Aadhaar programme is the next step of this dream,” said Smt. Gandhi.

Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery is the usage of the Aadhaar identity platform to identify and authenticate residents for delivery of benefits/services by various government or private agencies.

“It is our aim that every resident should have an Aadhaar number. The poor will benefit the most from Aadhaar as the Government will be able to correctly identify beneficiaries of various social sector schemes based on the Aadhaar number. The ongoing pilots have also proved that Aadhaar is like a boon to beneficiaries,” Finance Minister Shri P.Chidambaram said.

There are many benefits associated with such integration for various stakeholders, ranging from better compliance management to reduced leakages and increased efficiency and accountability in service delivery.

“I wish to take this opportunity to personally thank the Prime Minister and UPA Chairperson for their continued support and guidance in the implementation of the Aadhaar project. The Finance Minister has also been very supportive of using Aadhaar to benefit the Aam Aadmi. India is well known for advancements in the field of technology. The government is using state of the art technology in Aadhaar for the benefit of people. We intend to cover about 60 crore residents with Aadhaar numbers by 2014,” said Shri Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, UIDAI.

Also present at the launch event were Chief Minister of Rajasthan Shri Ashok Gehlot; Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Railways Dr. C.P. Joshi; Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Mukul Wasnik; Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia; Minister of State for Finance Shri Namo Narain Meena; Minister of State for Planning, Science & Technology, Earth Sciences Dr. Ashwani Kumar and Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology Shri Sachin Pilot.

On the occasion of the launch, ongoing Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery initiatives were shown via a live telecast at the venue. The Prime Minister also presented the Aadhaar Governance Awards to District Collectors of Aurangabad, East Godavari and Ramgarh.

The dignitaries present applauded the ease with which residents were able to conduct the transactions.

Aadhaar Service Delivery initiatives that were showcasedFrom Dudu, Rajasthan, residents were seen taking their benefits under various welfare programmes such as Chief Minister’s BPL Housing Scheme, Chief Minister's Higher Education Scholarship Scheme and MNREGA.

Beneficiaries from Andhra Pradesh were shown taking their quota of ration from Fair Price Shops under the Public Distribution System in Kakinada, East Godavari district, after using the Aadhaar Online Authentication System.

In Aurangabad, Maharashtra, payments under the Scholarship and Old Age Pension Social Security Welfare Scheme were made via the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System, with beneficiaries getting their dues after authenticating their identity via a micro-ATM device.

LPG cylinders were delivered to residents of Mysore, Karnataka using the Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery mechanism, which involved authenticating the identity of the resident through a hand-held device.

In Ramgarh district of Jharkhand, money which was transferred by Jharkhand Government directly to the beneficiaries’ Aadhaar-linked bank accounts under the MNREGS program, was withdrawn by residents through a microATM device operated by a Business Correspondent.

Similarly, the residents of West Tripura district in Tripura were paid their dues under the Old Age Pension Scheme, using the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System.

The government will roll out Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery initiatives in 51 districts across the country. These services will be linked to various government schemes such as MNREGA wage payments, PDS distribution, payment of social security benefits such as old-age payments, distribution of LPG cylinders, etc. A number of state governments are already ready to roll out these initiatives.

Currently 23 crore residents have enrolled for an Aadhaar number, while 21 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued.

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Australian Tourism Minister Calls for Direct Air Connectivity to Boost Toursim

Press Information Bureau: Dec 05, 2012Australian Tourism Minister Mr. Martin Ferguson has called for direct air connectivity between India and Australia to boost tourism. He stated this during his discussion with Union Tourism Minister Shri K.Chiranjeevi here today. Both the Ministers also expressed their resolve to strengthen bilateral tourism cooperation. Referring to the recent road shows organized by India Tourism in Australia, Shri Chiranjeevi expressed the hope that such shows will contribute to more tourist inflow from Australia. The Minister also suggested creation of a joint Tourism forum where the Tour Operators, Hoteliers, Airlines and other tourism stakeholders form both the countries may exchange the ideas for promotion and development of tourism between both the countries. He also expressed the views that both the countries should explore the possibilities of renewing the MoU on tourism cooperation which expired in 2008.The Minister also suggested easing of visa norms to boost tourism.

India and Australia are important tourism markets for each other. Australia is one of top 10 tourist generating markets for India as far as inbound tourism is concerned. Number of Australian visited India during the last five years were :

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 135925 146209 149074 169647 186002 India tourism Office in Sydney looks after promotion and marketing of India in Australia. Overall the marketing efforts have been directed at re-enforcing the brand and creating year round traffic. India Tourism office regularly undertake comprehensive promotion, developing partnership with airlines, the travel industry, media, community groups and Government.

Ministry of Tourism in association with Indian Association of Tour Operators organized road shows in Sydney and Melbourne in October this year. The Ministry of Tourism hosted the visit of tour operators, travel agents, opinion makers, TV team, travel writers, etc. from Australia numbering 35 in 2011-12 and 16 till date during 2012-13 on familiarisation tour of India under its hospitality scheme.

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