BENGALURU: After her plight hogged national attention following a report in The New Indian Express, Sajida Begum (65) along with six other leprosy patients got enrolled for Aadhaar on Tuesday. A special enrolment camp was held for them at Leprosy Hospital on Magadi Road by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
Since she could not authenticate for biometric identification, Leprosy Hospital medical officer Dr Ayub Ali Khan Zai authenticated her details on her behalf. “In all, seven patients got enrolled for Aadhaar. I have authenticated for everyone. I have also been told that they will get their e-Aadhaar in a week.”
Sajida had not got her pension for failing to link it with Aadhaar. She got her October pension on
Monday. Though she hasn’t received pension for September and November, treasury department officials said they had released it.
“From Treasury, payment has been sent periodically through post office,” an official said. According to the treasury’s records, pension for April, May and August was returned by the post office. “The reason for the return has to be collected from the concerned post office,” said the official.
Yogesh Ranganath (28), a general manager of a city-based foundation’s philanthropic initiatives visited the hospital on Tuesday. “I have given Sajida `1,000. I will continue to do so for the following months. I am also contemplating on creating an appeal on Ketto, a crowdfunding platform. A lot of people are concerned but don’t know how to help her,” he said. A resident from ETA The Garden Apartment neighbouring the hospital also gave ` 1,000 to Sajida.