Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has made it clear that students who do not have Aadhaar, will not be entitled for midday meals from July 1.
A letter written by director of Basic Education, Sarvendra Vikarn Singh, to all primary education officers, clearly states, “The government has directed the basic education officers in all districts to ensure that every beneficiary of midday meals gets an Aadhaar card so that the scheme is not affected. If Aadhaar cards for all beneficiaries are not made and their numbers are not submitted, then students without such cards will not be able to benefit from the government schemes.”
At present, the Aadhaar enrollment of students in primary schools is extremely low and despite the government's efforts, camps for Aadhaar cards have not been set up yet.
A senior official in the basic education department said that according to a rough estimate, only 15 to 20 per cent students have Aadhaar cards.
Officials feel if midday meals are denied to students there maybe a surge in dropouts.
