The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved changes to Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill 2019 that incorporates a clause to allow use of Aadhaar data for State schemes and subsidies. The amendment to the Aadhaar Act entails use of India’s national biometric ID by states governments for their schemes that are funded through the ‘Consolidated Fund of the State’. This is a post fact approval to the recently passed amendments to Aadhaar amendments.

“The states had demanded this. As per Supreme Court order, Aadhaar is allowed where the funds are going for beneficiary schemes coming straight from the central government. It will enable the use...The way subsidies to the central schemes are transferred from the central fund, Aadhaar can be used for transferring state subsidies,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters while briefing about the Cabinet decisions.

Javadekar said there are about 128 crore Aadhar cards registered so far, and use of Aadhaar for transfer of state subsidies will enable weeding out of fake beneficiaries.

The Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also gave approval to dissolve National Institute of Miners’ Health (NIMH) and merge it with ICMR-National Institute of Occupational Health.

The merger/amalgamation of NIMH with NIOH will prove beneficial to both the institutes in terms of enhanced expertise in the field of occupational health besides the efficient management of public money, said the statement.