Disregarding Supreme Court Order, UGC Makes Aadhar Mandatory For Scholarships
NEW
DELHI -- Disregarding the Supreme Court order, which limited linking the Aadhaar
card to six government schemes, the University Grants Commission has made it
"mandatory" for students to provide biometric data before they can
avail of "government subsidies, scholarships and fellowships."
On
June 29, 2016, UGC secretary Jaspal S. Sandhu sent a letter to Vice-Chancellors
of all universities and institutes, which said that Aadhaar has been made
"mandatory for disbursement of all government subsidies, scholarships and
fellowships" for the financial year 2016-2017.
The
letter, which HuffPost India has seen, requests all universities to "seek
the details of the beneficiaries and put all information on
universities/institutions' websites," and email a copy to the UGC, a
statutory body of the Government of India. “The HRD Ministry,
vide its letter dated June 10, 2016, has instructed the commission that from
financial year 2016-17 Aadhaar has been mandatory for disbursement of all
government subsidies, scholarships and fellowships, which are to be disbursed
directly into the beneficiaries’ account,” Sandhu wrote.
On
October 15, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that Aadhaar could only be linked to
six government schemes (Public Distribution Scheme, L.P.G Distribution Scheme,
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employement Guarantee Scheme, the National Social
Assistance Programme, Prime Minister's Jan Dhan Yojana and Employees' Provident
Fund Organisation) on a "voluntary" basis.
The
Aadhaar Bill, which allows the government to ask any citizen for Aadhaar to
avail of government subsides or schemes, was recently passed by Parliament, but
the The Aadhaar Act, 2016, is yet to come into force. And
until that happens, the Supreme Court order reigns supreme, according to
lawyers and activists.
Furthermore,
in view of the several petitions challenging the Aadhaar card scheme, and the
Supreme Court still mulling over whether the Right to Privacy is a Fundamental Right in India, the
Aadhaar Act is still not home free.
"This
is a clear and unequivocal violation of the Supreme Court order," said
Prasanna S., a Delhi-based lawyer, who is handling litigation challenging the
Aadhaar scheme in the Supreme Court, referring to the UGC order.
"This
is contempt of court," he said.
For
the Act to come into force, the Centre will issue a notification which states
that the Act and its regulations have come into force, and this could still
take several months, according to Prasanna. In the meantime, the Centre cannot
connect Aadhaar in either a "mandatory" or "voluntary"
capacity to any scheme other than the six mentioned in the Supreme Court order.
UGC's
Sandhu has not responded to HuffPost India's request for comment.
The
Modi government orchestrated the passage of the Aadhaar Bill by treating it as
a money bill, which allowed for it clearing the Lok Sabha, where the Bharaitya
Janata Party forms the majority, while ignoring the amendments suggested by the
Rajya Sabha.
"Both
this and the previous government, have brazenly violated the Supreme Court's
orders, making a mockery of the Court and causing hardship to people in getting
their legal entitlements--be it scholarships, rations or work," said
Reetika Khera, an economist in the humanities and social sciences department at
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
The
issue of Aadhaar cards, which links government schemes and services to
biometric data and unique identity numbers, has been controversial. Both the
Congress Party led-United Progressive Alliance government, and the BJP-led
National Democratic Alliance government have argued that Aadhaar will allow
subsidies to reach beneficiaries directly, and prevent middlemen from siphoning
off subsidies worth thousands of crores of rupees.
On
the other hand, there are many activists, academics and politicians who believe
that such a bank of biometric data can be used by the government for "mass surveillance"" in the name of
"national security." Speaking in the Rajya Sabha during the Budget
Session in March, Biju Janata Dal's Tathagata Satpathy said that he feared that
the Modi government would use the data for "mass surveillance" and
"ethnic cleansing."
Following
the Lok Sabha's rejection of the amendments proposed by the Rajya Sabha in the
Budget Session, senior Congress Party leader Jairam Ramesh challenged the
passage of the Aadhaar Bill as a money bill, which will come up for hearing in
the Supreme Court, later this month.
Ramesh's
challenge, combined with the pending decision by the Supreme Court on whether
the Right to Privacy is a fundamental right in India, would
also impact the future of the Aadhar Act. "The implication of both these
is that the provisions of the Aadhaar Act will be subject to review
imminently," said Raman Jit Singh Chima, Policy Director at Access Now.
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan
& Co
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