Hyderabad: In line with the AP government policy of making Aadhaar cards mandatory for public services, the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) had issued a directive mandating Aadhaar seeding sending students into a tizzy. However, senior officials said Aadhaar is not a prerequisite for students to write Intermediate examinations.
Chief Minister Naidu had categorically said that Aadhaar will be linked to all welfare schemes to weed out irregularities. Towing his line, even the AP BIE asked students to furnish Aadhaar details and said the same will appear on their final mark sheets. This created panic among students since many of them don’t have an Aadhaar card. An official release from the AP BIE had said that January 27 would be the last date for submission of Aadhaar details of students. Parents are also questioning the motive behind linking Aadhaar with exams since it is not a scheme.
However, officials said that Aadhaar was not mandatory for students, “It is better if Aadhaar details are given by students. In future it will help them in many ways. Like for scholarships of the HRD Ministry. It also lends more authenticity,” a senior AP BIE official said. Till date, about 60 per cent of the students have provided Aadhaar details.When the government first asked students to give Aadhar details about half the students obliged. But since then despite reminders from AP BIE, not many have submitted. “It is possible they don’t have Aadhaar. But students can just enroll and give us the enrollment number,” an official said.
