Aadhaar enrolment drive for students begins in Hailakandi district

Nov.2: The Aadhaar enrolment drive for students began in Hailakandi district on Monday. The Aadhaar enrolment for students was launched ceremonially by Additional Deputy Commissioner (Education), RK Dam at a programme organised by Axom Sarba Siksha Abhiyaan, Hailakandi at the Block Elementary Education Office here.

Speaking on the occasion, ADC, Dam said the state government envisaged the programme to help track school children so that they can avail the benefits under various government schemes. School Inspector, Nazmul Hussain Laskar and other officials were present on the occasion. It may be mentioned that the government has made it mandatory for school children up to Class XII in government or provincialised educational institutions for opening bank accounts. It has earmarked Rs.16.32 lakh for the Aadhaar enrolment exercise in elementary and secondary schools of the state for two months.

The programme is being carried out simultaneously in all 33 districts of the state. Under the enrolment drive, students of Classes I to XII will be covered under the Axom Sarba Siksha Abhiyan. “SSA will carry out the Aadhaar enrolment drive for all school children of all management schools, including private schools in a phased manner. However, the coverage of students will begin from higher classes immediately. Senior secondary and secondary students (Classes IX to XII) will be covered within December itself,” a government directive said.

Rs.49,481 has been allocated per district for two months for the exercise and the amount will be utilised for procuring sanitisation kits, among other things. Since the possibility of COVID-19 infection cannot be ruled out during the Aadhaar enrolment drive, the SSA authorities have asked the operators to clean the biometric devices after every enrolment and update.

The Office of Mission Director, SSA has instructed the Aadhaar enrolment centres to advise students and guardians from COVID-19 hotspots, home isolation and quarantine centres not to come to the Aadhaar centres for enrolment. “Children falling under these categories will be covered in a later phase,” a government official disclosed. Meanwhile, the Mission Director, SSA has directed the districts to ensure at least 900-1,000 Aadhaar enrolment of students in a month.