Budget Session: Aadhaar Bill to be taken up in Rajya Sabha today

It is the last day of the first half of the Budget Session on Wednesday and Parliament will go into recess for a month. The government has succeeded in pushing some key legislations through Parliament in this session.

Bringing cheer to home buyers, Parliament passed the Real Estate Bill. The session also saw passage of the carriage by Air Bill ensuring compensation for air travellers.

After sharp criticism from opposition as well as from public at large, government cancelled the tax on EPF. A key bill making Aadhaar the basis for disbursal of all subsidies was also passed by Lok Sabha and will be introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The government says the Aadhaar (Target Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016' will help save thousands of crore rupees by routing subsidy through the Aadhaar system. The Bill gives statutory backing to the unique identity number scheme.

During the debate on the bill in Lok Sabha last week, some parties too had raised questions about provisions of the Bill, insisting that there is apprehension that it can be used for "mass surveillance" and "ethnic cleansing.