The food and supplies department has already started the process of seeding Aadhaar with ration cards

Mamata Banerjee has apparently taken a 180-degree turn on Aadhaar with the Bengal government approving a proposal to link people’s 12-digit unique identification numbers to rations cards.

Sources said a realisation that seeding of Aadhaar numbers with ration cards could help the Bengal government save about Rs 500 crore annually in the food distribution had driven the chief minister to change her stand.

Mamata had been criticising the Narendra Modi government over making Aadhaar compulsory for schemes and benefits and refused to link her Aadhaar to her cellphone numbers.

“The food and supplies department had put forward the proposal as the Centre was pushing the state to go for the process citing a Supreme Court order. The chief minister did not approve it initially. But she changed her mind after an all-party meeting in September okayed the proposal,” said a senior government official.

Sources at Nabanna said Mamata had initially raised questions about the necessity of seeding Aadhaar numbers with ration cards.

“The chief minister was told that the process could save at least Rs 500 crore on the outgo for giving subsidised foodgrains to nearly 8 crore people as it would prevent pilferage. She was also informed that the Centre was pushing hard to go for the process based on the Supreme Court order that made seeding of Aadhaar numbers mandatory for the beneficiaries of welfare schemes. The approval came about one-and-a-half months ago,” said a source.

The food and supplies department has already started the process of seeding Aadhaar with ration cards recently and it is expected that the process could be completed by January next year.

Sources in the government have said as of now, the state spends more than Rs 3,500 crore to provide subsidised foodgrains.

A rough estimate by the state food and supplies department suggests over 15 per cent of the funds could be saved if the state can stop pilferage from ration shops completely.

“Details of the beneficiaries have already been installed in the PoS machines of the ration shops once the digital cards were introduced. Now, biometric details would be liked with the ration cards with the seeding of Aadhaar. Once this is done, only a beneficiary would be able to withdraw his or her quota of subsidised grains by verifying biometric data like thumb impression,” an official said.