Rural Development Ministry has issued a clarification that Aadhaar is not mandatory for those seeking work under the scheme.
Rural Development Ministry has issued a clarification that Aadhaar is not mandatory for those seeking work under the scheme.
Written by Ruhi Tewari | New Delhi | Published on:June 4, 2015 1:32 am
The Rural Development Ministry, which had in February directed that MGNREGA payments would be made only on Aadhaar-enabled DBT platform in 287 priority districts, has issued a clarification that Aadhaar is not mandatory for those seeking work under the scheme.
The move comes in the wake of the Supreme Court order asking central and state governments to not insist on Aadhaar for granting social security benefits to citizens.
In a circular issued to states in the middle of April, the Ministry has said, “In order to make the matter further clear, it is clarified that while facilitating all workers to have access to Aadhaar enrolment, registration of demand for work shall not be denied under any circumstance…Besides registration of demand, none of the processes under the Act, including provision of work on demand and payment of wages, shall be denied or withheld simply because the person concerned does not have an Aadhaar number,” the circular stated, asking state governments of DBT districts to “make this clear” to all field functionaries.
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Earlier, the ministry issued two circulars on February 18 and February 25, informing states that cash transfer in 287 districts would take place “only on DBT platform” from April 1 onwards. State governments were asked to note Aadhaar numbers of workers at the time of registration of demand. In case a worker did not have an Aadhaar number, the circular said the BDO would be responsible for getting the worker enrolled.
The two circulars clearly implied that Aadhaar enrollment would be mandatory for MGNREGA beneficiaries.
Since it came to power, the NDA government has tried to give a decisive push to Aadhaar, making it the basis of several existing and new initiatives. The move, however, has been constrained by the fact that Aadhaar has no legal backing.
Since it came to power, the NDA government has tried to give a decisive push to Aadhaar, making it the basis of several existing and new initiatives. The move, however, has been constrained by the fact that Aadhaar has no legal backing.
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