By Vikram Mukka | ENS - HYDERABAD
Published: 01st February 2014 07:57 AM
Last Updated: 01st February 2014 07:57 AM
After the house wives seeking gas cylinders, now it is the turn of students to bear the brunt of compulsory Aadhar Card to avail scholarships disbursed by the state government. With the government making Aadhar Card mandatory to receive the scholarships, many students who have not yet received their cards are at a loss.
While those who have provided the Aadhar Cards to avail the benefit are wondering as when would the government disburse the funds as it is learnt that the verification process to filter the genuine applications is not completed so far. With the academic year coming to an end in a couple of months, students are questioning whether or not the government will release the funds before the present academic year concludes.
Says Upendra, a student from Osmania University, ‘’Why has the government brought in this new method when it is aware that the process of distributing Aadhar Card is a complete failure? There were no problems when the government used tenth class memo to authenticate the genuineness of an applicant. In a desperation to continue their course many students, who do not have Aadhar Cards, are borrowing money to continue their courses.”
The social welfare department every year invites applications for new scholarships and renewals in July and finishes its verification process and disburse money before the financial year ends in March. However, there is an unprecedented delay this year as it brought in Aadhar Card system and asked the institutions to install biometric card readers.
Student leaders allege that the government is deliberately including new provisions to cut the number of applications. Noor Mohammad, Students Federation of India state president says, “The government wants to cut down the number of applications so they are harping e-governance and transparency for their new set of rules. Last year, they asked for attestation by notary and this time they are insisting on Aadhar Cards. I do not understand what is the problem with previous methods. Due to this number of applicants have come down, compared to last year.”