(ET)
About ten days ago, the finance minister delivered a set of measures that were the first installment of things that the government will do to boost the economy. It was an eclectic collection touching a variety of different areas but mostly along the expected lines. Certainly, it has had the hoped-for effect on at least the equity markets. More broadly, it has reaffirmed the belief that the current fog of pessimism is severely undersold and many individual problem areas will get fixed, some through second-order effects and others over a normal cycle.
Among the changes announced by the FM was one which was a surprise and a very pleasant one at that: the restoration of Aadhaar as a medium of KYC for mutual fund investments. This is not a new thing that has happened. Aadhaar was usable for this purpose, as it was for many other things, before the Supreme Court disallowed it in September last year. Subsequently, with the new Aadhaar law passed in July this year, can be used again.
