Jaitley hopeful of Aadhaar Bill passage in current Parl session

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley expressed hope that the Aadhaar Bill, which seeks to give legal status to the unique identity number, will be passed in the ongoing Budget Session.

"...the Aadhaar legislation. I hope to see it through this session. It is an important law that can rationalise subsidies. The whole dispute about privacy set aside, it's a certification that nobody claims money twice," he said during the Rajya Sabha TV programme 'Spotlight'.

Meanwhile, sources said, the Union Cabinet approved the bill so that it could be introduced in Parliament.

In his Budget speech, Jaitley had said government will undertake significant reform including enactment of a law to ensure all government benefits are conferred to people who deserve it by giving a statutory backing to the Aadhaar platform.

Till date over 98 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated.

On the banking sector, he said the banks have to be strong to support growth.

"We need to see the impact of private sector balance sheets on the balance sheets of public sector banks. These are challenging areas to address... The challenge is to build firewalls around your system in response to global situation," Jaitley added.

On MNREGA, he said there is no point following the UPA system of accounting.

"...you get a clap by sanctioning huge amounts and end up spending a fraction of it in most of the UPA rule. The revised estimates for development was much lower than the budgeted ones," he said.