Homeless to get Aadhaar, can open bank a/cs

AURANGABAD: Inmates of all the shelters for homeless in the city will soon get Aadhaar cards and will be able to open bank accounts.The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is planning to provide the facility to about 200 inmates in six shelters for homeless so that they can avail various welfare schemes of the government.Virendra Singh, commissioner and director of the directorate of municipal administration (Maharashtra) visited one of the shelters in Kohinoor Colony along with municipal commissioner D M Mugalikar on Tuesday. He asked the municipal authorities to open bank accounts of all the inmates and speed up the process for both the initiatives. “The persons who take shelter in such facilities should get the benefits of the government welfare schemes. It is mandatory for them to have an Aadhaar card and a bank account to be beneficiaries of the government schemes,” said Singh.Uday Jarhad, assistant project officer of National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM), told TOI that a majority of the persons taking shelter in the facilities for homeless in the city do not have Aadhaar cards, while just a few have bank accounts.He added that the municipal body would soon conduct special drives for opening Aadhaar cards and bank accounts of the inmates.But sources in the municipal body told TOI that it would be tough job for the authorities considering the educational and financial background of the inmates. A significant number of inmates do not possess necessary documents, while many others downplay the need for Aadhaar cards, the sources said.The AMC will soon carry out renovation of all facilities for homeless as it is set to receive a special fund of Rs 1.90 crore from the state government. Singh assured the municipal authorities that the fund would be released within next 10-15 days. Under the NULM, the state government has offered the fund to the Aurangabad civic body. Besides, the municipal body will also receive Rs 48 lakh to clear the pending bills of the non-governmental organisations running the facilities.