It is puffery, petitioner tells SC on Aadhaar enrollment claim by centre

On gains from DBT, the petitioner said that the deletion of 2.33 crore ration cards after seeding with Aadhaar had saved it Rs 14,000 crore.

A petition in the Supreme Court disputed the government's figures on gains from the Direct Benefit Scheme due to introduction of Aadhaar. In a rejoinder filed before the SC, the petitioner cited the government's affidavit while stating that it had listed savings from DBT for 2014-15 and 2015-16 at Rs 49,560 crore. This, the petitioner contended is incorrect. The matter will be taken up for hearing on June 27.

According to the government, financial benefits from DBT arose from four basic schemes: Public Distribution System (PDS), Pratyaksha Hastantrit Labh (PAHAL), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS), and the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP). A "fifth residuary category" was noted in the affidavit as "others", the petitioner pointed out.

It was further alleged that in case the figures were disputed and the method of computation had not been revealed. The "savings" were actually "gross savings", as available data indicate that no costs were factored into their tabulation, the petitioner further said.

On gains from DBT, the petitioner said that the deletion of 2.33 crore ration cards after seeding with Aadhaar had saved it Rs 14,000 crore. But previous statements by government had gone to show that only a fraction of these deletions can be attributed to Aadhaar, the petitioner said while also adding that the government was trying to conflate the number of persons enrolled to argue the impossibility of exclusion.

The petitioner argued that the centre had claimed that more than 95.1 per cent of the people possess Aadhaar and the enrollment figure stood at 115.15 crore. "Such figures amount to puffery (exaggerated)", she said.

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