The human resource development (HRD) ministry has said that under the Central Sector Scholarship Scheme for College and University students, applicants will now have to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar card or undergo Aadhaar authentication to avail benefits
Those who don’t have an Aadhaar card will have to apply for enrolment by June 30 this year, the ministry said in a notification. However, this will not be applicable in Jammu & Kashmir.
As per another notification issued by the ministry, students who wish to avail the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme will also have to apply for Aadhaar by June 30, though it exempts the states of J&K, Assam and Meghalaya.
According to officials, the move will bring in transparency and enable beneficiaries to get their entitlements directly in a convenient and seamless manner, and Aadhaar obviates the need for producing multiple documents to prove identity.
Till the time Aadhaar is assigned to the students, they may get scholarships on the basis of documents like Aadhaar Enrolment ID slip, Aadhaar enrolment application, voter identity card, PAN card etc.
Similar provisions have also been made in the notification related to the Means-cum-Merit Scholarship Scheme for schoolchildren.
The notification shall come into effect from the date of its publication in all states except Jammu and Kashmir.