Aadhaar cards: Collector awaits orders from Central government

The scheme was to take off in November with a three month grace period,following which if a consumer fails to provide the Aadhaar number,he would have to purchase cylinder at market rate. The district has registered 69 per cent enrollment for Aadhaar cards so far.

With the Central government filing an affidavit on the issue after the ruling,the district administration is waiting for a formal order from the Centre.

District officials maintained there would be no problem in passing on the subsidy.

“The only issue here is whether Aadhaar linkage will go or remain. If it is optional then direct bank transfer which is already in process can be used,’’ added district officials.

An official from the IT department said,“The state government should be notified once the Central government arrives at a decision. The linkage was already in process for districts with high Aadhaar coverage. However,if the linkage has to stopped,there should be specific orders from the Centre.”

On Monday,the Supreme Court ruled that Aadhaar cards are not mandatory to avail essential services from the government. A bench of Justice BS Chauhan and Justice SA Bobde said that Centre and state governments must not insist on cards for services. The decision was in response to a PIL filed by Justice KS Puttaswamy,a retired judge of the Karnataka High Court,who said that Aadhaar card is being made mandatory for purposes like registration of marriages and other services and sought immediate stay on the implementation of the scheme. The state government had recently said that registration of marriages will not be done if parties do not have Aadhaar cards.

The court asked the government not to issue Aadhaar cards to illegal migrants in the country. The Centre,in its reply,claimed that Aadhaar card is a voluntary project and said the consent of an individual was indispensable. It added that the initiative aimed at including marginalised sections of society with no formal identity proofs.