The Supreme Court on Thursday permitted citizens to voluntarily use Aaadhar cards to avail benefits under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, along with Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna and schemes related to pension and PF after the government promised that absence of Aadhaar would not debar people from the schemes concerned. This is in addition to the two schemes– the public distribution system(food grain and kerosene ) and LPG –where the use of Aadhaar on a voluntary basis for cash transfer to beneficiary bank accounts was allowed by the apex court in its August 11 interim order.
The concession came after attorney general Mukul Rohtagi furnished an undertaking to the court that no citizen would be denied benefits under social welfare schemes for want of Aadhaar card. The court for its part laid down two pre-conditions — government would not force citizens to enroll for Aadhaar card , and they would not make it the eligibility criterion for benefits under various schemes.
SOURCE:THE TIMES OF INDIA, NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 16, 2015 ,PAGE 19 AND THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS NEW DELHI OCTOBER 16, 2015, PAGE 1
