Shillong, May 30: The state government has launched ’50 days Aadhaar saturation programme” to enable the citizens to avail Aadhaar cards.
Office of the state development commissioner has urged all citizens of Meghalaya, who have not yet registered for Aadhaar, to get themselves registered at the earliest.
The plea comes at the backdrop of the UIDAI’s circular of three month extension for Aadhaar enrolment for states, failing which the non-registered citizens may be unable to avail various government subsidies and benefits.
An official statement in this regard said that due to low Aadhaar coverage in Meghalaya, residents without Aadhaar number 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 % of the supplementary nutrition for infants and children in the 0-6 years category, and pregnant and lactating mothers, from the next quarter. Moreover, in other schemes like Ayushman Bharat being implemented in the state as Megha Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS)–Aadhaar is deemed as mandatory for any new enrolment”, the statement said.
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 availed without 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,” the government said.
According to the government, 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 is dismal with just about 10-12 %.
As part of the “50 days Aadhaar saturation programme”, emphasis will be laid on Aadhaar registration of children below 5 years of age. In this regard, biometrics of children below 5 years are not required for aadhar registration. In addition, children without birth certificates will also be provided support under the “50 days Aadhaar saturation programme” of the state, the government said.
To accelerate Aadhaar enrolment across the state, all the districts are preparing action plans, as part of which enrolment 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 Department and stakeholder organization like Meghalaya State Rural Development Society (MSRLS). The Nodal Department for Aadhaar, the General Administration Department has already taken the lead in Aadhaar saturation approach by their support teams and have also assigned funds for thie “50 days Aadhaar 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 organizations to gather support and momentum for the campaign.
The modalities and KYC requirements for Aadhaar enrolment are being shared with all concerned and more publicity materials will be made available soon for mass circulation and widespread dissemination, the government said.
