SHILLONG: The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) has opposed the State government’s move to restart the National Population Register (NPR) enrolment in the State which is a precursor to the issuance of Aadhaar or the Unique Identification Number (UIN).
In a press conference here on Monday, the KSU urged the State government to suspend the NPR enrolment immediately.
“We had held a meeting with the chief minister in 2013 where he had assured that the NPR enrolment will be put on hold to bring about an effective mechanism to check influx in the State,” KSU general secretary Auguster Jyrwa said.
Jyrwa referred to the interim order of the Supreme Court which states that ‘Aadhaar card is not mandatory and hence availing the facilities of social schemes is not prevented’.
“We thought it was only an awareness programme but the block development officers are actually enrolling people in parts of East Khasi Hills and West Khasi Hills,” he added.
He also observed that the since the headmen were facing complications with seizure of their powers, it will be impossible to pursue the enrolment without the support of the headmen.
Jyrwa also informed that the KSU has mobilized its units in those areas to get the enrolment programmes suspended.
‘Scholarship forms being rejected’
During the KSU press conference on Monday, it was informed that scholarship application forms of students were being rejected as they had not obtained the Aadhaar card.
Some press persons informed that the forms had been rejected since they did not include the Aadhaar number owing to which the poor students were facing hardships.
Adding to the problem is the system of online application of scholarship forms which makes it even more difficult, the journalists added.
In this connection, the Education Wing of the KSU assured that the matter would be taken up with the State’s education minister.
