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No Aadhaar, No Bank Transaction
After the Supreme Court gave some concessions to people who choose not to get Aadhaar, a 12-digit biometric identity number, news has emerged of the government making the unique identity mandatory for all bank accounts. All existing account holders are asked to submit aadhaar to banks by Dec 31, 2017, failing which accounts will become invalid. Till now, it was mandatory to provide PAN number or Form 60 to banks while opening accounts or for high-value transactions.
In recent months, most banks had been encouraging account holders through SMS and phone calls to link Aadhaar with their bank accounts. This was probably done to pre-attempt the possibility of it becoming compulsory in future. The Union Budget 2016-17 had mandated seeding of Aadhaar number with PAN to negate the possibility of individuals evading tax using multiple PANs.
In fact, experts had been anticipating the government would make it mandatory to link bank accounts with Aadhaar number after the decision to link of PAN with Aadhaar. The apex court had granted “partial relief” to those who do not have an Aadhaar number or an Aadhaar enrolment ID, ruling that the PAN of such individuals will not be cancelled for the time being. The government has court’s permission to link its welfare schemes which are voluntary in nature with Aadhar. This means if a citizen does not want to avail benefits like old age pension or widow pension then he/she can stay away from Aadhaar.
Small deposit bank accounts can be opened at a branch where it is possible to manually monitor and ensure that foreign remittance are not credited to such account and stipulated limits on the monthly and annual aggregate of transactions and balance are not breached. Although frozen accounts can be reactivated by linking to Aadhaar details. The money will be safe but the accounts will not be operational. Once the account holder shows the required documents they will be unfrozen.
This was because bank accounts of the person would already have PAN (as KYC requirement). Once aadhaar is linked with PAN, it will certainly lead to an automatic link with the bank accounts as well. Hence, the interconnection of PAN card, Aadhaar and bank accounts, implies that the government will be able to keep a track of your financial transactions.The move is aimed at keeping a check on small accounts. Currently, accounts can be opened without having valid KYC or Know Your Customer documents for a maximum deposit of Rs. 50,000.
Commenting on this development, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted, “The poorest of the poor, the marginalised people will be the worst sufferers if Aadhaar is made mandatory unilaterally”. “Aadhaar has serious issues about privacy. The government must not make it mandatory before 100% coverage is achieved,” a second tweet read. Banerjee had earlier criticised the Centres decision to make Aadhaar cards mandatory for availing the mid-day meal scheme and accused it of snatching the rights of the poor.She had alleged that rather than supporting the poor, the Centre was snatching away their rights.
Some 65% of India’s estimated 70 crore savings accounts are Aadhaar-linked. The government issued one billion Aadhaar cards till April 2016, the latest year for which data is available.
As per the FATCA pact signed by India and the United States, banks and financial institutions were asked to obtain this self-certification for all individual and entity accounts that were opened between July 1, 2014, and August 31, 2015. It was in July 2015 that India and the US had signed a tax information sharing agreement under a new US law, FATCA. This was done with plans to boost efforts for automatic exchange of financial information between the two nations so that tax evaders can be caught.
Farmers form the backbone of the Indian Economy, making up more than 40% of the workforce. However, every day 28 people dependent on farming commit suicide—the post-harvest losses in the country amount to over 93,000 crores per year. The loss of 93,000 crores constitutes approximately 40% of the country’s total produce. This occurs due to the perishable nature of agricultural produce, which often forces farmers to sell their produce at the prevailing market price, be it high or low, thereby resulting in a loss of bargaining power.
Addressing this issue through the positive power of social entrepreneurship, Enactus DCAC, an international not for profit student body organisation, initiated Project Zaraat for the upliftment of the farming community. The mission of Project Zaraat is to minimise post-harvest losses and enhance forward linkages through a self-sustaining social enterprise.
Project Zaraat | Image Source: NAC Media
Under the mentorship and guidance of Michigan State University and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Zaraat provides the farmers with a unique storage solution that works on the principle of evaporative cooling. It is affordable, portable, and eco-friendly, making it different from conventional storage facilities. Moreover, this solution increases the shelf life of the produce by upto ten days, ensuring that the quality of produce does not deteriorate. Apart from this, they also aim to partner with various B2B aggregators to ensure a rise in income for the farmers and provide them with payment security.
Project Zaraat | Image Source: NAC Media
Currently, they are in the process of integrating farmers into an FPO to ensure collective bargaining power. They are also exploring sustainable agriculture practices that are vital in a climate constrained world.
Project Zaraat is a recipient of the KPMG Ethics Grant and also received a Special Mention at the Enactus Early Stage National Competition 2021.
Building on this by the end of the year, they aim to sustain the lives of 100 farmers by providing them with an income boost of 25%, reduce post-harvest losses by a whopping 60%, and minimise the energy consumption by 20%. For more information, visit www.enactusdcac.com.
Project Zaraat by Enactus DCAC
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