The idea behind the extensive push for Aadhaar does not seem to be addressing the real issues confronting people, that of hunger and deprivation, but mapping them for some intangible purposes.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s singular obsession with pushing the linking of Aadhaar with a range of entitlements, especially those affecting the poorer sections of the population, has come as a surprise. When the move to map the country and its citizens with a Unique Identification Number, or Aadhaar, came first as the brainchild of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the NDA, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), opposed the project. Now it is resorting to various means by expanding the ambit in the name of efficiency and stemming corruption.
Between August 2015 and October 2015, Aadhaar was made compulsory for obtaining the benefits of the public distribution system (PDS) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidies and later expanded to other schemes. In October 2015, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court placed restrictions on making Aadhaar contingent for a wide range of benefits and essentially held that a citizen could not be compelled to have Aadhaar as a pre-condition to access Centrally sponsored welfare schemes. Despite the court order, there is sufficient anecdotal evidence to show that people have been harassed and denied their legitimate entitlements, including their right to have a bank account, if they do not possess an Aadhaar card.
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