Special Aadhaar camps for school children soon

Nashik: The district administration is set to organise special camps beginning next month to ensure every student has an Aadhaar number, given the government plans to use it for distribution of scholarships and other subsidies.

“Given the government plans to link all subsidies to Aadhaar in the future, it is important that all the students between six and 18 years of age have Aadhaar number with updated information,” deputy collector Shashikant Mangrule said.

The Aadhaar camp will be organised on a drive mode – students will be encouraged to enrol and update their address and other details. “Once students get Aadhaar number, they will not have to waste time elsewhere. Aadhaar is necessary for linking to PAN Card etc. So students will be ready to receive subsidy as well as scholarships,” the officer said.

The administration has sought convenient timings from schools, and has asked that an awareness drive be launched ahead of the camp. As of now, the 63,27,284 people have Aadhaar numbers in the district – that is 103.60 percent of the district population of 61.07 lakh, as mentioned in Census Report 2011. (Apart from the fact that population might have risen since the Census was carried out, the higher figure could be because Aadhaar is available to all residents and is not restricted to citizens. Population estimated for 2015 in the district was 64,60488).

Even considering this data, the administration has achieved 97.94 percent of the target; it means 1.33 lakh in the district remain to be enrolled in Aadhaar. “Even today the administration believes there are at least 2.50 lakh people who do not possess Aadhaar number when compared to the current population. Most of them happen to be children as elders have got some or the other reason in the past to get Aadhaar number. But it appears that the children are neglected, unless there is a need for Aadhaar,” the officer said.

The SC judgment on Wednesday states enrolment of children will occur only with parental consent. Citizens have welcomed the verdict of the apex court, not to make Aadhaar mandatory for getting SIMs, opening bank accounts, or even school admission.

“This is a relief for many citizens who were unable to transact for lack of the Aadhaar number. This will not force the parents to get Aadhaar first before they get admission to the schools. Similar is the case with mobile connections where citizens were unable to get their Sim cards for lack of Aadhaar number. Now they are free,” claimed Shweta Sharma.

On the other hand Vishwanath Kale, a businessman, however expressed concern on the issue. “Let Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) be in the possession of Aadhaar numbers submitted by consumers to the telecommunication companies. With this compulsion, it won’t be easy for the unscrupulous elements to get the Sim cards that can be used in crime,” Abhijeet Deshpande, said.