After criticism, Centre retracts compulsory Aadhar for children
- It is worth noting that the Centre's decision to make Aadhaar compulsory for children under 6 went against the Supreme Court's 2018 judgement that no child can be denied any services or benefits for the lack of the biometric ID.
The Union government has rolled back its orders making Aadhar cards compulsory for infants and children (below age of six) to get their rations. This came about soon after media reports discussed the pitfalls of making Aadhar mandatory for children.
On Wednesday, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) of the Indian government issued a statement wherein they said that the Centre had never made Aadhar compulsory for children to avail of benefits under the POSHAN scheme. Further, they dubbed media reports which said otherwise as “fake news”.
The reports in question were published by members of The Reporters’ Collective in collaboration with other media websites. The collective stood by its story and outlined how the Union government had actually introduced the mandate but rolled it back when the flaws were outlined.
Further, it is worth noting that the Centre’s decision to make Aadhaar compulsory for children under 6 went against the Supreme Court’s 2018 judgement that no child can be denied any services or benefits for the lack of the biometric ID.
