Haryana govt seeks Aadhaar number in admission forms

The Haryana government has circulated a ‘Student Admission Form’ to schools across the State seeking the Aadhaar number of the students, the parents and their religion and caste as well as other such information.

The move has evoked sharp criticism from Opposition Congress with its communications in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala calling it an attempt at “surveillance” of parents and students.

The form (a copy of which is with The Hindu) was circulated by a prominent school in DLF City Phase-IV to the parents on Tuesday.

Though the Aadhaar number is not marked as a mandatory field, the parents’ name (as on Aadhaar) has been marked as mandatory. Similarly, the mother’s occupation and the parents’ annual income are other mandatory fields. It also asks for the religion, the category and the caste of the student.

The form has been circulated by the school through an email as an attachment stating that the “information being sought is not for the school records but for use by the government of Haryana”. It further said that it was to be filled by all parents from all Haryana schools.

As per the communication from the school, the details are to be filled and submitted by April 16.

Mr. Surjewala uploaded the alleged form on his Twitter handle and criticised the government. Question no. 36 in the form, which was uploaded by the Congress leader, read: “Whether Parents engaged in 'Unclean Occupation'?.

A tweet by Mr. Surjewala read: “BREAKING! Khattar Govt does it again. Students labelled as 'untouchables' & their parents occupation as 'unclean'. Govt, taking a cue from NaMo App, issues a 100 pointer student admission form. Since when has Aadhar become mandatory for school admission? [sic]”.

‘Surveillance of students’

Another tweet blamed the government for surveillance on parents and students.

“Surveillance is the DNA of BJP...Khattar Govt issues a 100 point Students Admission Form. It is really a Surveillance of Parents/Students Form...Height of insanity is the kind of pvt info of parents being sought...Calling vocation of parents unclean is absurd [sic].”

Additional Chief Secretary, Haryana Education Department, Dheera Khandelwal, did not respond to repeated calls and messages on the matter.

Parents also had misgivings about the information being sought. “Why is the Haryana government interested in our annual income ... When we are paying our tax on time. The Supreme Court is still discussing whether Aadhaar should be mandatory, how can government ask for these details? ... I need to know the reason,” said Tripti Singh, administrator of the Gurgaon Parents for Better Education, a Facebook group.

The students have also been asked to furnish information about genetic disorders. “Why do they want so many details? What will they do with the bank account number of a student?” another parent in Panchkula asked.