SHILLONG: The East Khasi Hills District Administration is likely to have one more meeting with the NGOs over the implementation of the National Population Register (NPR) that provides access to various government services and schemes through Aadhaar – unique identification number (UID).
The implementation of the project has remained a non starter in Meghalaya due to stiff opposition from the NGOs even as many of the states in the country have already finished the entire process.
East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Sanjay Goyal on Friday said that the Aadhaar card would be linked to many other Government schemes and therefore it is imperative upon all to see that the scheme is implemented in the right earnest.
According to Goyal, the Union Government took Meghalaya as Special case in the DBTL (Direct Benefit transfer of LPG) since Aadhaar card is not implemented in Meghalaya, but the Central Government may not agree for similar exceptions in other schemes.
It is learnt that even the scholarship scheme in the State for which around 8000 students have applied would also be linked to the Aadhaar card.
Goyal feared that implementation of several schemes may be affected in Meghalaya since the Central Government is linking all future schemes with the Aadhaar card.
Reacting to a query, he said that the local authorities would be roped in to assist the district administration in the process of allotment of unique identification number (UID).
The Khasi Students’ Union has been objecting to implementation of the NPR in the State and has been demanding that the Centre should amend certain provisions of the NPR before its implementation in the State in view of the fact that Meghalaya shares borders with Bangladesh and Assam and there are strong possibilities that people from outside who enter the State might manage to register themselves and get permanent Indian citizenship.
Goyal, however, assured that people should not be confused since enrolment for the Aadhaar card does not entitle an individual to get citizenship.