STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: National Conference (NC) on Sunday questioned the purpose of linking various utility services with Aadhaar, as most of the people in Jammu and Kashmir are yet to get the cards due to non-payment of dues by the PDP-BJP Government to the agency designated to issue unique identification numbers.
“It is intriguing to make Adhaar mandatory for availing benefits of various schemes notwithstanding the fact that a sizable segment of population is yet to be covered under Aadhaar programme”, senior National Conference functionaries said in a joint statement, adding that such a decision reflects disconnect of the insensitive Coalition government with the people. They said the non-seriousness of the government in bringing the entire population under the Aadhaar net is deplorable.
The National Conference functionaries blamed the coalition dispensation for creating hype over every issue without preparing for meeting the obligations. In this context, they referred to the recent decision of the Coalition government, making Aadhaar mandatory for availing of rations from 1st April this year and said, “Linking Aadhaar with supply of rations will deprive people, especially those living in rural and far-flung areas, from the food support due to unrealistic policies and poor governance”. They urged the government either to withdraw this rider or ensure Aadhaar cards to every citizen on war-footing basis before the deadline of April.
They said that Aadhaar has been linked with availing of various benefits like opening of bank accounts, direct transfer of funds on LPG subsidy, Jan Dhan Yojna, seeking of passport, digital lockers, linking of voter cards, drawal of pensions, provident fund and various insurance covers. “National Conference has raised the issue in the Legislative Assembly with regard to release of payment to the Aadhaar card issuing agency, which has since closed its centres across the State”, they added. Besides Provincial President Devender Singh Rana, signatories to the joint statement included former Ministers Surjeet Singh Slathia, Ajay Kumar Sadhotra, Syed Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari, Abdul Gani Malik, Sajjad Ahmed Kitchloo and Khalid Najeeb Suharwardhy in addition to senior leaders Rattan Lal Gupta, Th Kashmira Singh, Mirza Abdul Rasheed, Sheikh Abdul Rehman, Babu Ram Paul, Th Rachpal Singh, Ajaz Jan, Satwant Kour Dogra, Dr Shehnaz Ganai, Bimla Luthra, Master Noor Hussain, Brij Mohan Sharma, Qazi Jalal-ud-Din, Dr Chaman Lal, Bushan Lal Bhat, Mohammed Iqbal Bhat, Jagjeevan Lal, Haji Mohammed Hussain, Gurdeep Singh Sasan, Jugal Mahajan, Master Baldev Singh Bhau, Satpal Lakhotra, Sheikh Bashir Ahmed, Abdul Gani Teli, Vijay Lochan, Dharamveer Singh Jamwal, Anil Dhar, Surinder Singh Bunty, Mohammed Ayub Malik and Rajesh Bakshi.
