Government of India have decided to change the deadlines for linking Aadhaar to all the social benefits schemes offered by the government from 31st December to 31st March as Centre informed Supreme Court on 25th October.
Hence, in case of anyone who lacks this 12 digit unique identification number, no coercive action will be taken by the government against those who do not have Aadhaar card and also will not be denied of any social welfare scheme benefits till March 31st, as stated by Advocate General K K Venugopal.
This deadline has gone through changes earlier as well. As earlier the last date to fulfill the linkage was on September 30, which was later extended to December 31st. It is again reconsidering the deadline to link this biometric identification number to avail social benefits scheme has been extended to March 31st.
This extension is covering as many as 135 schemes which includes the free cooking gas (LPG) to poor women, kerosene and fertilizers subsidy, targeted Public Distribution System (PDS), MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) etc.
This deadline has been extended because of the petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the decision to make linking of mobile numbers and bank accounts with Aadhaar is mandatory. Petitioners have filed the case saying that mandatory linking of Aadhaar and mobile numbers is illegal.
Advocate General K K Venugopal further informed the top court that he will get back with instruction from Centre on 30th October on the same.
The Supreme Court gave its historical verdict on ‘Right to Privacy’ saying that
However, it is yet to comment on biometrics of Aadhaar
To know more about Aadhaar Privacy Case read “Privacy is a Fundamental Right: A Timeline of Aadhaar Privacy Case” https://rupeenomics.com/privacy-fundamental-right-timeline-aadhaar-privacy-case/