By Maya Palit
The announcement that children who don’t have an Aadhaar card could be refused mid-day meals in schools came as a major shock last week, and triggered some indignation in the media. This was subsequently cancelled by the government.
But the full extent of government schemes that have been brought under the mandatory Aadhaar stipulation reveals that women might be particularly affected. They are already especially implicated by the threats to privacy that Aadhaar poses: According to legal researcher Usha Ramanathan, for instance, profiling will become much easier because of the Aadhaar card and the various details it collates about individuals. And years ago, certain women voiced their concerns that having an Aadhaar card with all their information on it would be potentially risky.
Notifications from various central government ministries have now confirmed that Aadhaar cards will be needed for 11 other schemes, including cash benefits for people with disabilities, scholarships and skill-training for people with disabilities, literacy schemes like the Equivalency programme, training for women to became entrepreneurs, the Ujjwala scheme and the Swadhar Greh Scheme for the rehabilitation of sex trafficking victims, aspects of medical care, and sanitary items for women.
All these developments violate a Supreme Court ruling in October 2015, which declared in no uncertain terms that the Aadhaar card should only be voluntary identification for five government schemes. And in the meantime, the irony of making Aadhaar compulsory for schemes which aim to break down obstructions or obstacles to women’s education and livelihoods, as well as the well-being of persons with disabilities, isn’t lost on anyone.