27, Mar 2018 | CJP Team

In a bizarre attempt to appear more loyal than the king, several schools across the country are demanding that all students compulsorily fill in their Aadhaar data during enrolment. In fact, even the admission process for Nursery for the academic year 2017-18 at these schools requires Aadhaar information of both the parents and the child! Now an intervention petition has been filed in the Supreme Court in the Aadhaar case challenging these ridiculous requirements.

The intervention application filed by Advocate Joshita Pai highlights how key Aadhaar concerns related to getting benefits under government schemes or matters related to National Security. The petition says, “While the stand in the Court is about national security, the objects of the Act is about delivery of services to persons. It is submitted that both these aspects do not concern the children, especially those who are not seeking any subsidized services from the State.”

The application further states, “That the often-expressed rationale by the Union Government on the question of integrating Aadhaar number with other schemes has been ‘in the interest of National Security’. However, the requirement of furnishing Aadhaar details of students in schools does not align with the alleged concern over National Security.”

It also raises the question of profiling, “That the students are being compelled to produce their Aadhaar details for unspecified purpose and such linking of a student’s Aadhaar information with a student’s school records is not viable and will enable profiling of the children’s records.”

The entire petition may be read here:

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