No denial of vaccine, essential services for lack of Aadhaar, says UIDAI

The Unique Identification Authority of India informed no one should be denied vaccine, medicine, hospitalisation, or treatment just because they do not have an Aadhaar

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Saturday informed that no one should be denied vaccine, medicine, hospitalisation, or treatment just because they do not have an Aadhaar and said that Aadhaar should not be misused as an excuse for denial of any essential service.

According to a statement issued by UIDAI, in the COVID pandemic circumstances, no one shall be denied a service/benefit just because someone does not have an Aadhaar.

"If one does not have Aadhaar or if Aadhaar online verification is not successful due to some reason, the concerned agency or department has to provide the service as per Section 7 of Aadhaar Act, 2016," the statement said.

This came after certain reports which claimed that some essential services were being denied to the residents for want of Aadhaar.

"Aadhaar should not be misused as an excuse for denial of any essential service. There is a well-established exception handling mechanism (EHM) for Aadhaar and it should be followed to ensure delivery of benefits and services in the absence of Aadhaar. If a resident does not possess Aadhaar for some of the other reason, s/he must not be denied essential services as per Aadhaar Act," the UIDAI statement said.

The Aadhaar-issuing body further advised that in case of any such denial of service/benefit, the matter should be brought to the knowledge of the higher authorities of the concerned department/s.

UIDAI said, "Aadhaar is meant to bring transparency and accountability in public service deliveries through effective use of technology and there are exception handling regulations issued by UIDAI vide its circular dated October 24, 2017, to ensure that no beneficiary is denied of benefits/services for the want of Aadhaar.

"Also, relevant provisions are there in the Aadhaar Act under Section 7 to ensure that there is no exclusion and no denials. Further, the Cabinet Secretariat OM dated December 19, 2017, has clearly explained the exception handling mechanism by using alternate means of identification for extending benefits and services to the residents who do not possess Aadhaar or in cases where Aadhaar authentication is not successful due to any reason," UIDAI added.