UIDAI mandates Aadhaar to avail government benefits and subsidies

According to a recent circular issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), if a person doesn’t have an Aadhaar number or enrolment slip, he/she may not be entitled to avail government subsidies and benefits.

The circular was issued to tighten the Aadhaar rules for those who don’t have an Aadhaar number and are availing of the subsidies and benefits provided by the government. If one does not have an Aadhaar number yet, an Aadhaar Enrolment Identification number or slip would be required for availing central and state government services, benefits, and subsidies.

The latest circular says that more than 99 percent of adults in the country have been issued an Aadhaar number now. “Thus in the above backdrop and considering the proviso to Section 7 of the Act...in case no Aadhaar number has been assigned to an individual, he/she shall make an application for enrolment and till such time Aadhaar number is assigned to such individual, he/she may avail the benefits, subsidies and services through alternate and viable means of identification along with Aadhaar Enrolment Identification (EID) number/slip,” the circular mentioned.

UIDAI issued one more circular, which says entities may make the Virtual Identifier (VID) optional. “Some government entities may require the Aadhaar number in their respective databases for smooth implementation of the social welfare schemes. Therefore, such government entities may require beneficiaries to provide Aadhaar numbers and made VID optional,” the UIDAI has said in the circular.