The Lok Sabha on Friday cleared the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016, as a money Bill despite protests by the Opposition over its classification, in what Finance Minister Arun Jaitley termed “the culmination of seven years of discussion” over the Bill.
He said the government would save crores of rupees by routing government subsidies through the unique identification or Aadhaar system now that it had statutory backing.
The Bill “will empower the States to distribute resources to deserving people and save the resources that undeserving people get,” he said, responding to the short debate on the Bill.
He also justified the measure as a money Bill saying any measure which led to money going into the Consolidated Fund of India and coming out of it qualified for this.
Cong. mulls legal options
Upset at the BJP government turning the Aadhaar Bill into a money Bill, the Congress is exploring legal avenues to bring the Bill under the scrutiny of the Rajya Sabha.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi chaired a meeting to discuss how to revoke the “money” factor from the Bill and seek a list of amendments to it in the Rajya Sabha.
