NEW DELHI: Clearing the air around requirement of
Aadhaar to avail benefits under
Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Scheme (
NHPS), the health ministry said Aadhaar is “desirable” but not mandatory to avail benefits under the insurance scheme.
“Notification of the Ayushman Bharat — National Health Protection Mission being issued by the health ministry under Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act, merely enables the implementation agencies to ask for the beneficiary
Aadhaar Card to authenticate their identity. In order to authenticate the identity of beneficiaries accurately, the use of Aadhaar card is preferable, but it is not a “must”...,” the ministry said in a statement.
“We will provide services to all eligible beneficiaries with or without Aadhaar cards,” health minister J P Nadda said.
The draft notification also provides for exception handling mechanism — production of alternative identification mechanisms like ration card, voter ID card, MGNREGA card in case the beneficiary does not have Aadhaar number.
