Mandatory for scholarships but not passport: All you need to know about use of Aadhaar

Find out what the Aadhaar will be mandatory for in this financial year.

Updated on: Apr 9, 2017, 08:03:26 IST

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By Chetan Chauhan

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Biometric based Aadhaar is envisioned as a single-window mechanism to seek government benefits, ranging from mid-day meals and skill training to scholarships from the next financial year. The decision, activists say, violates a Supreme Court order asking the government to keep Aadhaar “voluntary” for availing entitlements.

In the last month, central government has issued notifications that make Aadhaar mandatory for several schemes and subsidies. (PTI)

In the last month, the social welfare ministries of the central government have issued similarly worded notifications making Aadhaar or enrolling for the 12-digit number mandatory. Most of the ministries have set June 30 as the deadline to submit Aadhaar number or provide an enrolment slip for the 12-digit number. Some ministries have set March 31 as the deadline.

The overdrive to make Aadhaar mandatory is part of the government’s decision to transfer Rs 2.02 lakh crore in 2017-18 to beneficiaries only through Aadhaar payment bridge. And for that, getting an Aadhaar number is necessary.

This would mean that Aadhaar would be a must for a farmer to seek subsidy or any other benefit from the government, a rescued sex worker to enrol for skill training, a pregnant women to get nutrients and children to have mid-day meals in schools.

Reetika Khera, a development economist with the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, said the notifications issued by central ministries were in violation of the Supreme Court’s order which said “Aadhaar cannot be made compulsory for any services to which people are otherwise entitled”.

She also claimed the court orders cannot be superseded by Aadhaar law under which the government has issued the order. The law was enacted in September 2016, a few days before the court asked the government to wait till its final verdict on legality of Aadhaar.

In the financial year 2017-18, Aadhaar will be mandatory for:

• Enrolling in any government-run skill development programmes, including programmes for rescued sex workers

• Getting free books, dress, stationery and any other benefit from schools and universities

• Getting fellowships and scholarships from school and universities, including those for disabled and weaker sections

• Pregnant mothers will need Aadhaar for cash transfer, free medicines, nutrients and dry ration; for mothers to get free meals from Integrated Child Development Service centers

• Senior citizens will need it to enrol in adult education programmes of the Central government and old-age pension schemes

• Providing mid-day meal to children in all schools. States will get money only for students who have an Aadhaar card

• Teachers, contractual staff and students to have Aadhaar to seek any benefit under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA)

• All Asha workers, paramedics, contractual employees and individual beneficiaries need to have an Aadhaar card under the National Health Mission

• Anganwadi workers under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) to get remuneration transferred to Aadhaar-linked bank account

• For seeking money to construct home under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

• Farmers will need Aadhaar for getting soil tested or availing subsidised fertilisers or seeking any subsidy under a Central scheme

• Disabled people for fitting aids and appliances from a government agency

• For seeking financial benefit under the Centre’s scheme for inter-caste marriages

• For providing relief to victims of human trafficking and those rescued from red-light areas.

• NGOs/Institutions seeking funds from 84 central government schemes

• Subsidised cooking gas connection

• Compensation and rehabilitation of rescued bonded labourers

What is Aadhaar already mandatory for?

• For registration of property in most states

• For getting enrolled under MGNREGA and getting wages

• For getting ration at subsidised rates under the public distribution system

• For opening a bank account in a nationalised bank

• Online filing of Income Tax return

• Some states have made Aadhaar mandatory for getting a driving license

• In many states, to register a marriage, at least of the two partners need an Aadhaar card

• For admission of children from economically weaker sections in private schools

What is Aadhaar currently not mandatory for?

• For getting a passport but having one can speed up the process

• For general category seeking admission in private schools

• For seeking birth or death certificate

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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