A day after she accused the centre of cancelling the Aadhaar cards of several residents in the state, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking why such a move was made, even as union minister of state Shantanu Thakur said that no cards had been deactivated and that there was only a technical glitch. In her letter, Banerjee said that her government would issue alternate cards to affected citizens so that they continue to receive government benefits.
On Sunday, Banerjee had claimed that there was a “conspiracy”, and that Aadhaar cards of people in the districts of Birbhum, North and South Paraganas, and some parts of North Bengal had been “cancelled.” In Monday’s letter to the Prime Minister, she wrote, “I would like to know the causes for the sudden action of deactivation of Aadhaar cards without assigning reasons. Is it just to deprive eligible beneficiaries of benefits or to create panic just before the Lok Sabha elections,” Banerjee wrote.
Thakur, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from West Bengal’s Bongaon Lok Sabha constituency in North 24 Parganas district, however held a meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah and Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnav on Monday morning, and later said that no such “cancellation had taken place.”
The BJP MP in a post on X shared a statement of the UIDAI in which the agency stated: “In view of maintaining the accuracy of the Aadhaar database, UIDAI had initiated an exercise for update of documents and Aadhaar information. In the course of activities undertaken to keep the Aadhaar database updated, intimations are issued from time to time to Aadhaar number holders. In this connection, it is clarified that no Aadhaar number has been cancelled. In case any Aadhaar number holder has any grievance in this regard, they may submit their feedback here”.
{{/usCountry}}The BJP MP in a post on X shared a statement of the UIDAI in which the agency stated: “In view of maintaining the accuracy of the Aadhaar database, UIDAI had initiated an exercise for update of documents and Aadhaar information. In the course of activities undertaken to keep the Aadhaar database updated, intimations are issued from time to time to Aadhaar number holders. In this connection, it is clarified that no Aadhaar number has been cancelled. In case any Aadhaar number holder has any grievance in this regard, they may submit their feedback here”.
{{/usCountry}}On Monday, Banerjee also said that the state administration had launched a portal named “Aadhaar Grievances Portal of Government of West Bengal” where those that were facing grievances could register themselves, and that the government would soon meet the Election Commission of India on the issue. “The portal will start functioning from February 20. Citizens, whose cards are being deactivated, may register on this portal. I am going to give them a separate card so that they are not deprived of the benefits. They may face problems receiving money through banks but we will set up camps from where they will get the money,” Banerjee said.
“People from the scheduled tribes, minority community, Matuas, Namashudras, poor people and labourers are being targeted,” Banerjee said.
Thakur, who is a Matua leader himself, however said that the TMC chief was spreading lies, and that this was not an issue in the purview of the state government. “I apologise to the people whose Aadhaar cards have been deactivated. It was a technical fault. Union home minister Amit Shah held a meeting today. Those citizens, whose cards have been deactivated, need to apply online and their cards would become active soon. I will also give whatsapp number and email address in which they just need to send their names and addresses,” Thakur told reporters.