Niti Aayog bats for time-bound, universal Aadhaar programme

Niti Aayog has pitched for making Aadhaar programme universal in a time-bound manner for enabling better governance.

In its appraisal of the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17), the Aayog said the Aadhaar platform needs to be broad-based and linked with beneficiary database of various government programmes for effective delivery and targeting of welfare services.

Referring to the recommendation of the 14th finance commission, the Aayog said that while the transfer of larger funds to the states may witness significant changes in scheme design and the implementation mechanisms being adopted by individual states, there may be a need to strengthen the capacity of the states for designing, implementing and monitoring of schemes.

"In this context, Niti Aayog could play a pivotal role in disseminating best practices of successful models for adoption by the states," the Aayog's appraisal document noted. The document also pointed out that despite significant improvements in health indicators and achievement of millennium development goals to a large extent, the targets of the 12th Plan were largely missed, especially with respect to maternal and child health. On learnings from the 12th Plan in transport sector, the document noted that it has been seen that private investment in transport has slowed down, especially in the road sector, which had to be compensated by public investment.