Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday announced a deadline of January 1 for the Aadhaar-enabled roll out of subsidies in cash in 51 districts, but the programme is not expected to take place before the final quarter of next year.

The Cabinet note, which is yet to be circulated, consumes nearly two months, on an average, to complete the consultation process. According to the petroleum ministry, even after the Cabinet's approval, it programme will consume another 11 months to get rolled out.

If the roll out of the programme gets as late as next November of December, the government could sue use it as a significant poll plank in the 2014 general elections.

Moreover, there are many other hurdles in the way to successful roll out of the scheme. For instance, in case of food subsidy, many are concerned over the escalating piles of grains with the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Wheat's stock has been estimated at more than forty million tonnes, which is around three-folds of the buffer norm.

Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has admitted that the scheme has many challenged in its way to become operational. In a meeting with his colleagues on Monday, he said, "In the coming days, we will need to make every possible effort to address these challenges."

As per Mr. Singh's plan, the scheme should roll out in 51 districts from January and in eighteen states from April and in the remaining part of the nation in later 2013. But the government faces a gigantic task of addressing the aforementioned challenges before the roll out of the scheme; otherwise, the scheme could fall flat.