Students, do you’ve Aadhaar? If not, no fellowships, scholarships for you

Now, college students have to show their Aadhaar numbers to avail government scholarships and fellowships.

New Delhi, April 28: In its latest notification, the human resource development ministry on Wednesday stated that students must furnish their Aadhaar numbers by the end of June to avail scholarships and fellowships granted by the University Grants Commission and the All India Council for Technical Education.

"The use of Aadhaar as identity document for delivery of services or benefits or subsidies simplifies the government delivery processes, brings in transparency and efficiency, and enables beneficiaries to get their entitlements directly in a convenient and seamless manner and Aadhaar obviates the need for producing multiple documents to prove one's identity," the government stated in its notification.

Thus, those students, who are eligible for the UGC and AICTE fellowships and scholarships, should now declare their Aadhaar numbers by June 30. Those who don't have Aadhaar numbers can apply their names in the Unique Identity project and declare their enrolment numbers to their colleges.

The Centre's move to make Aadhaar numbers mandatory for availing benefits from government schemes has been widely criticised by activists. They allege that privacy of 1.3 billion people of the country has been threatened because of the UID project as applicants of Aadhaar cards have to give away their fingerprints and iris scans to the UID national database.

Moreover, last year, the Supreme Court told the Centre that nobody should be denied the benefits of government schemes and projects if she/he does not have an UID number.

Earlier, the HRD ministry stated that students of government schools should furnish Aadhaar card numbers to enjoy midday meals.

OneIndia News