NEW DELHI: The Central government has tactfully made the Aadhaar card mandatory for availing of The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) pension and provident fund benefits without disregarding the Supreme Court ruling against it.
With carefully laid out provisions of two recently issued notifications through the Ministry of Rural Development on January 3 and the Ministry of Labour on January 4, the Centre has made it necessary for beneficiaries of the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI) funded schemes to get their Aadhaar card numbers before January 31 for EPF and pension and March 31 for MGNREGA benefits.
However, till the beneficiaries get their unique identification number, which the Supreme Court in its August ruling had deemed as voluntary, alternate identification such as voter card, driving licence or PAN card may be accepted as valid proof. Through this clause, the Centre has sought to avoid contempt of court by giving space of acceptance of other identity proofs till the beneficiary gets his/her Aadhaar number.
Also, in accordance with the court ruling to create avenues for issuance of Aadhaar cards, the notification has directed the Department of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj institutions (dealing with MGNREGA) and Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation to open Aadhaar enrolment centres at convenient locations in the absence of enrolment centres at block, taluk or tehsil level.
With the new notifications, the Centre has not only avoided disregarding the Supreme Court ruling on the necessity of the Aadhaar card, it may also succeed in increasing further enrolment into the scheme, especially in rural areas where MGNREGA is functional. The new notification may not lead to much spur in Aadhaar enrolment in government and private sectors, the main beneficiaries of EPF, as enrolment there has traditionally been high since the introduction of the scheme.