Aadhaar scholarship program struggles to enrol students

Linking students’ scholarship accounts Aadhaar numbers has proven to be a more difficult task than originally suggested, as progress has slowed to an extent which will see only 25 percent of eligible students covered when the Direct Cash Transfer Scheme is rolled out this year, and activists aren’t happy about the news.

“We have to run from pillar to post to get enrolled for Aadhaar,” an unnamed student told expressindia. “No dedicated center for Aadhaar number is available near our college, though we were told by the college authorities that such centers would be set up in the vicinity by the district administration.”

According to the expressindia report, youth activist Somesh Gite met with district authorities to discuss this issue along with a large group of students, and said many students are suffering due to a lack of communication between the social welfare department and Aadhaar authorities at the local level.

Reported previously in BiometricUpdate.com, the Department of Social Welfare in India announced its scholarship payment program last year, in December. The program was set to be trialed in five districts throughout India, and upon recommendations from the government, the department was planning to hold special camps to enrol students for Aadhaar numbers.

Considering the scale of the overall project, the Unique Identity Authority’s Aadhaar program has had some trouble catching up with its ambitions as of late. In Delhi, where many have registered for Aadhaar cards, but some still have not received them, temporary eAadhaar card counters have had to be introduced to provide temporary printouts of government UID cards. This way, applicants can continue to access government services while waiting for their physical card to arrive.

Article Topics

Aadhaar  |  education  |  financial services  |  government purchasing  |  Indian government  |  social security  |  UIDAI