SC verdict brings different impact for different folks
New Delhi, Sept. 26: The Supreme Court verdict on Aadhaar will have different impact for different folks, a relief for those who no longer have to link their cards to their bank accounts and mobiles but tying millions dependent on subsidies to the biometric id, say activists and others.
Some like Bipasha Mukherjee, 21, whose mobile stopped working for 72 hours last month, welcomed the judgement.
Following a visit to the telecom company’s customer care centre, she was told the connection was disrupted because the “sim was not linked to her Aadhaar card”.
“I was completely cut off for three days without any explanation from the telecom company,” she said.
However, Bipasha’s relief did not trickle down to Gauri Devi, who works as a household help in Dwarka and needs the Aadhaar to avail facilities of welfare schemes and government subsidies.
In fact, Gauri said, it further polarises the haves and the have-nots.
She said that she and her two sons applied for Aadhaar, but only her younger son received the document.
While the younger son could get admission to the Vidya Bharti School in North West Delhi, life became tougher for her. Collecting rations and accessing subsidised health services for her family was “impossible” without the card”.
According to farmer leader and activist Vijoo Krishnan, food security, particularly among the poor, has been “worst hit” by the judgement.
According to data revealed earlier this year by the Right To Food (RTF) campaign, an advocacy group, 14 people allegedly starved to death in Jharkhand over 10 months after being denied rations because they didn't have Aadhaar cards.
According to human rights organisation Amnesty India, “making an Aadhaar card a prerequisite to access essential services and benefits can obstruct access to several constitutional rights, including the rights of people to food, health care, education and social security”.