It has come to light that ration card shops are demanding UID/Aadhaar number from ration card holders, therefore, there is a need to inform the concerned shop owners and the concerned state department about the notifications and letter of Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution prohibiting demand for UID/Aadhaar from non-Aadhaar holders.
As per the Consumer
Guide of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, “Aadhaar
is not a compulsory scheme at all, it is a voluntary based scheme and anyone
who is interested can enroll for Aadhaar.”
As per Section 1 (3) of the February 8, 2017 notification of
the ministry, in cases where an individual does not have an Aadhaar, the
notification states that the following documents be produced for providing food
grains:
1.
Ration
Card issued by the State Government Department;
2.
Copy
of Aadhaar enrollment ID slip or copy or request made for Aadhaar enrollment;
and
3. Any
of the eight documents specified in the notification like PAN card, Voter ID
etc.
According to the Letter of Pramod Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department
of Food &Public Distribution, Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food
& Public Distribution sent to Principal Secretary/ Secretary, Food and
Civil Supplies Department of all States on the subject of Aadhaar Seeding with
Ration Cards on24 October, 2017, “No person or household shall be
deleted from the list of eligible households and denied subsidised food grains
or cash transfer of Food subsidy under NFSA only on the ground of not
possessing Aadhaar.” The letter was copied to CEO of UIDAI.
The amendments to the relevant provisions
of the National Food Security Act 2013 makes it clear that those desirous of
availing subsidy may get themselves enrolled for UID/Aadhaar till 30 September
2018. It is not mandatory.
The
notifications, relevant and the press release given below for ready reference:
1. Amendment
(Extension till 30 September 2018) - Notification under Section 7 of Aadhaar
Act (Issue Date 02/07/2018.
Valid up to 02/07/2020) [Amendment dated 29th June, 2018 to Notification of Feb
8, 2017]
2. Amendment
(Extension till 30June2018) - Notification under Section 7 of Aadhaar Act
(Issue Date 02/04/2018. Valid up to 31/03/2021) [Amendment
dated 2nd April, 2018 to Notification of Feb 8, 2017]
3. Amendment
(Extension till 31March2018) - Notification under Section 7 of Aadhaar Act
(Issue Date 05/01/2018. Valid up to05/01/2019) [Amendment dated 26th
December, 2017 to Notification of Feb 8, 2017]
4. Amendment
(Extension till 31Dec2017) - Notification under Section 7 of Aadhaar Act
regarding requirement of Aadhaar Number/ Aadhaar authentication for subsidies
under PDS. (Issue Date
28/09/2017 Valid up to 31/12/2020) [Amendment
dated 28th September, 2017, 2017 to Notification of Feb 8,
2017]
5. Amendment
- Notification under Section 7 of Aadhaar Act regarding requirement of Aadhaar
Number/ Aadhaar authentication for subsidies under PDS. (Issue Date 06/07/2017
Valid up to 01/07/2019) [Amendment dated 29 June, 2017 to Notification of Feb
8, 2017]
6. Notification
under Section 7 of Aadhaar Act regarding requirement of Aadhaar Number/ Aadhaar
authentication for subsidies under PDS (Issue Date 10/07/2017 Valid up to
10/07/2020) [Amendment dated 8 February, 2017]
7. Press
release note for notification under Aadhaar Act (Issue Date10/07/2017 Valid up
to 10/07/2020) Refer to last paragraph of the Press release-July 10, 2017
In a related development, on 31st July,
2018, Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public
Distribution, C. R. Chaudhary informed
Lok Sabha that “Department has issued clear instructions to all States/UTs
that no beneficiary/household shall be deleted from the list of eligible
beneficiaries/households only on the ground of not possessing Aadhaar, and
shall also not be denied subsidized foodgrains or cash transfer of food subsidy
under NFSA due to non-availability of Aadhaar or failure of biometric
authentication due to network/connectivity/ linking issues/ poor biometric of
the beneficiary or other technical reasons.” The fact remains UID/Aadhaar cannot
be linked to entitlements of social benefits and services because the
entitlements are for “citizens” of India, not residents of India. UID/ Aadhaar number
claims to be proof of residentship in India.
In a RTI reply on the application of Dr Anupam
Saraph dated January 29, 2018 provided by Unique Identification Authority of
India (UIDAI) of Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), it has been admitted that UIDAI does not certify the identity, address, date of
birth, resident status or existence of any individual or any Aadhaar number. Given
the fact that certification is essential to identify the person
and agency responsible for the
issue of the identification document and to establish their legal liability for
the identification with the person, even the claim of UID/Aadhaar number being proof
of residentship has been found to be bogus, akin to misleading advertisements by
vendors of all shades.
In such a backdrop, UID/Aadhaar cannot be
relied upon by central and state departments of consumer affairs, food and public
distribution and other departments. It is high time all the central and state ministries
and agencies updated their notifications in the light of the revelations made
in these RTI replies and abandon UID/Aadhaar number database project.
Dr Gopal Krishna
The author had appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance that examined the Aadhaar Bill and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution that examined the Consumer Protection Bill. He is editor of www.toxicswatch.org and is the convener of Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties which has been working on UID/Aadhaar issue since 2010.
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