No essential service can be denied for want of Aadhaar: UIDAI
Aadhaar
The UIDAI statement asked government departments/ministries and State/UT governments to ensure that no essential service or benefit shall be denied to a genuine beneficiary for the want of Aadhaar card
Aadhaar-issuing authority UIDAI on Saturday clarified that no essential service or benefit like medical facility, hospitalisation, school admission or ration through PDS can be denied for the want of the biometric national ID. Significantly, the latest development comes a day after apregnant woman was denied admission in a hospital in Gurgaon for not furnishing her Aadhaar card.
UIDAI has taken a serious note of some of the cases reported in media recently in which it is claimed that the want of Aadhaar has resulted in the denial of essential services like hospitalisation or medical help by some lower level staffs causing grave inconvenience to people. While real facts behind such claims of denial are being investigated by the concerned agencies and strict action will be taken in case denial has occurred.
UIDAI said in a statement here today that the Government is sensitive to the fact that NO emergency services such as hospitalisation, etc., be denied for the want of any document whatsoever including Aadhaar. Aadhaar is meant to bring transparency and accountability in public service deliveries through effective use of technology and it should not be misused and made an excuse to any denial in the services.
The Cabinet Secretariat has issued instructionsdated 19th December2017 to ensure that bonafide beneficiaries are not deprived of their due benefits as alternative provisions have been made in the Aadhaar Act, 2016.
Recent cases of denial of services like hospitalisation by the medical staff due to the lack of Aadhaar card has become a major concern for the UIDAI department.
UIDAI further explained that there are detailed guidelines issued for exception handling mechanism for extending benefits to beneficiaries who do not possess Aadhaar or in cases where Aadhaar authentication is not successful due to any reason. UIDAI is again writing a letter to the Chief Secretaries of all the States/UTs to ensure that Section 7 of Aadhaar Act, 2016 is implemented in its true letter and spirit for all the schemes at the ground level in service deliveries to beneficiaries so that no denial happens due to want of Aadhaar.
"Aadhaar enables people to establish their identity so that they receive their entitlements and exercise their rights without any fear of being excluded.However, there have been some media reports that some service providers are denying essential and other services for want of Aadhaar. Such violations are punishable under respective laws of the land. Under no circumstance, anyone can be denied a service just because he/she doesn't have an Aadhaar," the statement said.
If one does not have Aadhaar or if Aadhaar online verification is not successful due to some reason, the agency or department has to provide the service using alternate means of identification and recording them in exception registers, which should be audited periodically by the higher authorities
"If any official of a department denies a service for the lack of Aadhaar or lack of successful verification due to technical or any such reasons, a complaint should be lodged with the higher authorities of those departments for such unlawful denials," it added.
On Friday, an incident was reported from Gurgaon’s Civil Hospital where a pregnant woman was denied admission and she gave birth outside the doors of the hospital. The Hospital has suspended a doctor and a nurse for the alleged lapse and ordered an enquiry into the incident.