The UPA government on Saturday rolled out the direct cash transfer system under Aadhaar scheme to eliminate fraud and corruption with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying government will use technology to bring transparency.

The launch, marking the second anniversary of Aadhaar project, is aimed at checking corruption and pilferage in schemes and to bring transparency in implementation.

"Our government wants to make maximum use of technology, IT in particular, on large scale to make the administration accountable and to bring transparency and Aadhaar is a significant step in this direction," Singh, who launched the scheme in the presence of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, said.

"We always make efforts to provide opportunities to people of economically weaker section to grow and prosper, and this project was also started with this objective.This will help crores of unemployed people. People face problem in starting a business or taking advantage of government's welfare schemes if they do not have a identity proof, and we want to remove such difficulties," he said.

"Cash benefits under the schemes will be transferred to the accounts of the beneficiaries. On the basis of Aadhaar, we can ensure that benefit of schemes reach genuine beneficiaries and that there is no mediator," he said.

Handing over Aadhaar card number '21 crore' to Bali Bai, who hails from Udaipur district, Gandhi said, "It is the biggest scheme, of its kind, in the world and one of the important programmes of UPA government....the vision behind this is very clear- to provide Aam Admi a right of identity.

"This will transform lives of aam admi. It is being used as residence proof in few states, and this will help the government transmit subsidy directly to accounts of the beneficiary," she said.

The scheme will be used for making payments to beneficiaries under MGNREGA, PDS, social security pension schemes, LPG distribution scheme, Chief Minister's rural BPL housing and Chief Minister's higher education scholarship.

Speaking at the function, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said, "Aadhaar is a boon for government schemes.It will help government in implementing welfare schemes and programmes like pension and scholarship schemes, subsidy on LPG cylinders and kerosene, effectively and to make sure the real person gets the benefit".

Aadhaar, a 12-digit number, serves as a proof of identity and address anywhere in the country. It is an online identity platform that can be accessed in real-time for authenticating beneficiaries and can be adapted by various user agencies.

Noting that the Unique Identification Authority of India has made remarkable achievements in a short span of time, the Prime Minister congratulated the officials for their performance.

He also presented Aadhaar Governance Awards and Aadhaar Excellence Awards at the function.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said several social welfare schemes in the state will be Aadhaar enabled in future.

Remembering former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Gehlot said IT revolution has brought a major shift in the lives of people and the Aadhaar card will also bring positive changes.

"With Aadhaar, we can ensure that the entire money that is sent from the Centre reaches real beneficiaries in remote areas. This will be a significant achievement," he said.

He announced linking of Public Distribution System at three places including Dudu and Chomu (Jaipur) in the state with Adadhaar enabled delivery system.

The chief minister also announced a scholarship scheme for higher education in the state under which Rs.500 will be given for five years.

Ongoing pilots of Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery were telecasted live from respective destinations on the launch in the presence of the Prime Minister and UPA Chairperson.

Budha devi of Jharkhand shared her experience of getting MGNREGA wages conveniently through Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery in Ramgarh.

At the function, ongoing pilot projects of Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery of PDS in Kakinada- East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, Social Security payment in Aurangabad- Maharashtra, LPG cylinders delivery in Mysore- Karnataka, MNREGS payment in Ramgarh- Jharkhand and Old Age Pension payments in West Tripura district of Tripura were telecasted live.