No denial of Covid-related services if person does not have Aadhaar: UIDAI

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the agency that administers Aadhaar, said in a statement Saturday that no one during the Covid-19 pandemic should be denied vaccines, medicines, hospitalization or treatment for want of Aadhaar. 

The statement came in response to news reports that said vaccination and a few other essential services like hospitalization and so on related to the Covid-19 pandemic were being denied to the residents if they did not have an Aadhaar number.

“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 and the Cabinet Secretariat OM dated 19th Dec 2017,” the UIDAI said in its statement. 

The agency further added that there was 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 or the other reason, they should not be denied essential services as per Aadhaar Act.

Further, the Cabinet Secretariat Office Memorandum dated 19th December 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 posses Aadhaar or in cases where Aadhaar authentication is not successful due to any reason, UIDAI added.

The agency said that in case of any such denial of service or benefit, the matter should be brought to the knowledge of the higher authorities of concerned departments.