Prime Miinister Narendra Modi's 2-Hour Review Of Aadhaar Scheme Tuesday May 10,2016

With more than a billion people in the world's largest biometric database, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent two hours on a review of the performance of the Aadhar welfare reform scheme, and a twin policy that allows cash to be deposited directly in the bank accounts of those entitled to subsidies.

The scheme records the fingerprints and iris signatures of Indians to streamline payment of benefits and cut down on massive wastage and fraud. The Aadhaar number for each person is unique.

Prime Miinister Narendra Modi was told that in the last year, more than 61,000 crores was distributed to more than 30 crore beneficiaries using the direct transfer system.

This included payments under the rural employment scheme or MNREGA as well as discount benefits for  LPG or subsidised gas cylinders.

"1.6 crore bogus ration cards have been deleted. That's a staggering number. This move alone led to a saving of 10,000 crores (over the last year) to the government"

. A similar effort for MNREGA led to a savings of 3,000 crores- nearly 10 percent of the entire annual budget of the reform.

The IT, Rural Development and Petroleum Ministries were represented at the meeting.