Over 50 million existing EPFO subscribers would be required to furnish their Aadhaar numbers to the body by June 30 this year.

In a move that will make passport documentation less cumbersome, Aadhaar number will now be accepted as proof of address and identity.

Implementing the cash transfer scheme is proving a challenge because of the hurry in which it was launched. The scheme may well be a good idea, but a Business Today investigation reveals that the government has missed out on details crucial to making the scheme work.

The government launches its scaled down Cash Transfer Benefit (CBT) in 20 districts, including two in the national capital, with a view to provide cash benefits to needy people.

The government will roll out its ambitious scheme of transferring cash to beneficiaries of select schemes in 20 districts on Tuesday, but food, fertiliser and fuel subsidies will not be covered in the initial phase.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram says the direct cash transfer to the targeted sections of people \"will be a simple and error-free\" arrangement with the utilisation of technology.

In November 2012, Shimoga in Karnataka became the first Indian city to create digital data of every property, recording even fingerprints of property owners.

With around 210 million Aadhaar, or unique identification numbers having been generated so far, the enormous promise the project holds is slowly being realised.

India will see another \"harsh\" year in terms of economic growth in 2013 as the European situation \"will remain very difficult up to end of 2014\", World Bank Chief Economist Kaushik Basu said on Friday.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said the government is implementing Aadhar-enabled Direct Benefit Transfer (cash transfer) system step by step and not in a hurry, to eliminate leakages.

Describing the direct cash transfer scheme as a game-changer, noted banker and Infosys Chairman K V Kamath has said the soon-to-be-launched programme will help reduce budgetary deficit.

The government aims to transfer Rs 3.2 trillion, or $58 billion, a year to beneficiaries of its subsidy schemes and welfare programmes by the direct cash transfer scheme. It is still unclear though, how the government arrived at the Rs 3.2 trillion figure.

The government has justified the announcement of its direct cash transfer scheme, saying it does not constitute violation of the model code of conduct.

The government claims its direct cash transfer scheme would help millions of students, the elderly and women community workers in villages to receive their monthly honoraria in time.

The e-Passbook shall contain transaction-wise details of account (all credits and debits) since the month for which the details for the establishment have been processed in new application software at the field offices.

In the first phase, the rollout would cover 51 districts spread over 16 states, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Tuesday.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram says government will launch the payout of direct cash subsidy to people through the Aadhaar based system in 51 districts of the country from January 1.

Electronic transactions are fast catching on. Technology is not only making banking convenient for customers, it has also allowed banks to expand their businesses faster. The cost of servicing a client is highest at a branch followed by ATMs, online and mobile phones.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has launched the direct cash transfer system under the Aadhaar scheme, marking the integration of the Unique Identification Number (UID) project with government-run welfare programmes.

While the Centre flounders under the impact of a policy paralysis that has followed in the wake of a series of scams, states such as Rajasthan, Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Kerala are focussing aggressively on development and governance.