PM asks States to maximise use of Aadhaar for good governance

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked States to maximise the use of Aadhaar for good governance and also work to attract investments through better business practices.

“The Prime Minister said that Aadhaar should be used across sectors so that the country can benefit and leakages can be plugged,” said Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog.

The Centre held a day-long National Conference with Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories which the Prime Minister also attended for two and a half hours.

Briefing reporters about the meeting, Kant said that the Prime Minister also hailed the Supreme Court’s recent judgement in the matter and termed it progressive.

Over the last few months, the government has extensively widened the scope of Aadhaar to also check tax evasion and has made it mandatory to quote the 12-digit biometric authentication number for filing income tax returns.

In a two-and-a-half hour meeting with Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories, the Prime Minister also asked them to accord top priority to the ease of doing business.

“This would bring in greater investment,” said an official release, adding that he also emphasised on the importance of removing archaic laws and rules.

Each of the 30 Chief Secretaries also made a three-minute presentations on the best scheme or practice in their respective States.

For instance, while Karnataka spoke about its crop insurance scheme, Punjab highlighted efforts for replacement of direct distribution of grains with cash. Gujarat spoke on the integrated water development scheme.

The Prime Minister said a team of young officers from across States should now deliberate and learn from these best practices, by visiting each State and also urged them to work on “competitive cooperative federalism”.

Arvind Panagariya , NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, said the Prime Minister also asked States to identify and focus on five challenges in their States.

“These could be like making the State kerosene free or Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat for national integration or labour reforms,” he said.

Panagariya also said that it is yet to be seen how farm loan waiver schemes and UDAY bonds will impact the finances of States.