The Meghalaya government has urged all citizens of the State, who have not yet registered for Aadhaar, to get themselves registered at the earliest.
This plea comes at the backdrop of the UIDAI’s circular of three-month extension for Aadhaar enrolment for all states, failing which the non-registered citizens may be unable to avail various central government subsidies and benefits.
According to a statement issued by the office of the Development Commissioner today, due to the low Aadhaar coverage in Meghalaya, residents without Aadhaar may soon be unable to avail several Central government welfare schemes.
“The most affected lot in this regard will be women and children who will lose out on the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) under ICDS of the Social Welfare Department. In the absence of an Aadhaar number, they will receive only 10 per cent of the supplementary nutrition for infants and children in the 0-6 year category, and pregnant and lactating mothers, from the next quarter onwards,” the Development Commissioner said.
The statement also said that in other schemes like Ayushman Bharat implemented in the State as Megha Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS) – Aadhaar is mandatory for any new enrollment.
Although Meghalaya had initially exempted its citizens from compulsory Aadhaar registrations, it is imperative to note that benefits of certain central governments may not be available without an Aadhaar number. There is an existing provision in Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act to facilitate a person who has not been assigned an Aadhaar number, to avail of the benefits, subsidies, and services “through alternate and viable means of identification for delivery of the subsidy, benefit or service,”.
Therefore, in order to ramp up the efforts in an attempt to be able to cover all residents of the State to avail Central government welfare schemes, the “50 days Aadhaar saturation programme” is being launched in the State.
“This is being done mostly in an effort to reach out and enroll newborns, infants, small children, women and all others who do not yet have an Aadhaar number. Especially in the category of newborns, infants and toddlers in the age group of 0-6 years, on account of very low Aadhaar enrolment, seeding and coverage through various schemes – the situation is dismal as the Aadhaar enrolment is just about 10-12 per cent,” the Development Commissioner said.
As part of the “50 days Aadhaar saturation programme”, emphasis will be laid on Aadhaar registration of children below five years of age. In this regard, biometrics of children below five years are not required for Aadhaar registration. In addition, children without birth certificates will also be provided support under the “50 days Aadhaar saturation programme” of the State.
To accelerate Aadhaar enrolment across the State, all the districts are preparing Action Plans, as part of which enrollment camps will be held on a mission mode.
For this, all Deputy Commissioners will be deploying all resources available at their disposal to make use of the officials and available funds of various stakeholder departments like Community & Rural Development, Food & Civil Supplies, Education, Health and stakeholder organisations like Meghalaya State Rural Development Society (MSRLS).
The nodal department for Aadhaar in the State government, that is the General Administration Department, has already taken the lead in Aadhaar saturation approach by their support teams and have also assigned funds for this “50 days Aadhar saturation campaign”.
The Deputy Commissioners will work to achieve this along with all the Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs), Anganwadi workers and helpers, Village Employment Councils (VECs) and the vast network of Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the State. They will be formulating their own strategy meetings and involve like-minded NGOs, social organisations , media and voluntary organisations to gather support and momentum for the campaign.
The State government is reaching out to all media organisations and community leaders to actively disseminate the news about the Aadhaar saturation campaign to ensure that the most deserving sections of our State especially women and children do not lose out in terms of their welfare schemes and programmes and entitlements.
The modalities and KYC requirements for Aadhaar enrollment are being shared with all concerned and more publicity materials will be made available soon for mass circulation and widespread dissemination.
