Impact of Aadhaar on Welfare

Abstract

Pope aptly describes the origins and evolution of the unique identity project, that was initiated to provide each resident of India a unique number linked to his or her biometrics. Among other things, it was meant to lead to greater inclusion into welfare programmes, reduce corruption in them and remove middlemen from the delivery mechanism. Based on evidence of the source of corruption in programmes such as the national reral employment guarantee act public distribution system, social security pensions, etc., and the proposed use of UID in them, It is clear thata priori, there is a very limited role for aadhaar in improving their implementation.