Cash-for-cards policy draws ire

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday criticised the Delhi government's move of linking the monthly cash assistance doled out to Kashmiri migrants to Aadhaar cards and asked the authorities to reconsider its decision.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday criticised the Delhi government's move of linking the monthly cash assistance doled out to Kashmiri migrants to Aadhaar cards and asked the authorities to reconsider its decision.

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The party's leader of opposition VK Malhotra, condemning the move, termed the "unjustified" decision as a ploy of the government to strip the migrants of their Kashmiri identity.

"The Delhi government is trying to force the Kashmiri migrants to enrol and get Aadhaar cards in order to continue receiving their monthly cash assistance," Malhotra said. He added that though innocuous, the move was cleverly aimed at getting the migrants registered in the National Capital region that will in turn make them lose their Kashmiri identity.

The scheme of providing financial assistance was started way back in 1990 and around 3,500 families currently get the government aid.