SHILLONG, AUG 4: The Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) today demanded the state government to withdraw the direction of making Aadhaar mandatory from its recent advertisement for post matric scholarship for scheduled tribe (ST) students of Meghalaya.
In a letter to the Director of Higher & Technical Education (DHTE), HYC general secretary Robertjune Kharjahrin said, “We expressed our disagreement and object to the advertisement which seeks to make submission of Aadhaar mandatory.”
“We therefore demand the office to immediately withdraw such direction from the advertisement,” he said.
Addressing pressmen here on Thursday, Kharjahrin said the advertisement is very much against the spirit of the Act. This is due to the fact that Aadhaar is not mandatory even as per section 3 (1) of the Aadhaar (Targetted Delivery of Financial & Other Subsidies Benefits & Services) Act, 2016.
Moreover, he also argued that it is a known fact that the state government is even yet to complete issuing of Aadhaar to all the residents of the state in view that most of the citizens are against the implementation of Aadhaar.
Stating that Aadhaar is not the only card to prove the citizenship of any person in India, Kharjahrin said, “There are other documents particularly the EPIC Card which can be an alternative for proving the citizenship and residential of any person in the country.”
Further, he said that the HYC is of the opinion that this action of the government by publishing the advertisement is totally against the Supreme Court of India order and direction of the union government.
“With due respect we feel that this acts is an act of coercion and induce influence done with an intention to forcefully made the residents of the state to have an Aadhaar,” he added.
Meanwhile, the delegation of the HYC had also earlier met the Director of the DHTE Ram Singh who assured them that he would take up the matter with the state government.
The HYC has also decided to meet the GAD Minister HDR Lyngdoh to demand the state government to stop attempting to link social schemes and other benefits with Aadhaar.-By Our Reporter
+ There are no comments
Add yours