Government school students must have Aadhaar-bank a/c link

PUNE: Government school students in the state will have to link their Aadhaar numbers to bank accounts to avail the benefits of various government schemes.

In a notification, the Maharashtra Prathmik Shikshan Parishad asked all government school students to complete the Aadhaar-bank account linking process so that money can be sent to the accounts, via direct benefit transfer (DBT) mechanism, for the purchase of stationery and school uniforms.



The recent Supreme Court order — denying mandatory linking of Aadhaar to bank accounts — notwithstanding, the state education officers have been told to ensure that every government and zilla parishad school student has a bank account linked to Aadhaar.

“The order is not applicable to government schemes. In order to benefit from government schemes, students will have to link their Aadhaar cards. This provision has been made in the SC order,” said Rajesh Lande, the joint director of the Maharashtra Prathmik Shikshan Parishad.

Lande added, “Uniforms are given under the Samagra Shikshan scheme of the Union government. The scheme requires 100% Aadhaar linking. At the start of the academic year, it was decided that DBT will be applicable from 2019-20 academic year.”

However, Vishal Solanki, the commissioner of education, assured that no child will be deprived of the benefits for the want of an Aadhaar card. “We will not deprive any child of the benefits of our schemes. Aadhaar is a necessity for our online system where every child is defined by a unique number and bogus students are eliminated,” he said.

Activists, however, have objected to the decision. Matin Mujawar of Shikshan Hakka Manch, said, “The government does not require these administrative practices to operate the scheme. Just distribute the uniforms and stationery to students in classrooms.”