Shillong, April 9: Cabinet minister and government spokesperson Ampareen Lyngdoh on Wednesday said the issue of Aadhaar linkage is something which is beyond just the government of Meghalaya.

According to her, it is totally incorrect to blame the state government for Aadhaar linkage to several beneficiary oriented schemes.

Reacting to a protest staged by the Awaken India Movement, Meghalaya against the Aadhaar linkage, Lyngdoh said, “I have been briefed by the DC that there were some organizations that took a protest march against the Aadhaar linkage to several beneficiary oriented scheme.”

Clarifying on the matter, the minister said, “Firstly, it is incorrect to assign this problem to the MDA-I or MDA-2 or any political party. The Aadhaar is a concern that was addressed by a Bill of parliament and enacted in parliament and this Aadhaar linkage is something which is beyond just the government of Meghalaya.”

She recalled that in 2016-17 the government of Meghalaya had officially written to the government of India asking for an exemption from implementation of Aadhaar in the state of Meghalaya saying “Government of India simply remain silent but it was later learnt that Aadhaar seeding was to be connected to several beneficiary schemes like ration card, job card, now even the MHIS linkage and several other such schemes.”

Stating that to say that it is an MDA govt initiated action is incorrect, Lyngdoh said, “If you look at this Aadhaar linkage, citizens are at liberty to not avail a scheme if they so wish so but if you want the ration card facility and MHIS card you have to have an Aadhaar. If you are a student applying for a scholarship you have to have an Aadhaar. So the government of India has used the Aadhaar as a base registry, certification to be given to the effect of being a Bonafide Indian citizen.”

“I would like to put this in the right perspective that you should not blame any government as this act or this bill was introduced in parliament way back 15-16 years and organizations are permitted to express their unwillingness to link or have Aadhaar linkage to any of these schemes but there should be a proper manner in which you present your case so that this intention to malign reputation of any government or any political party is refrain from,” she appealed.

Further, the minister has asked the protesters to write to the concerned authority on such Aadhaar discrepancies.

“There are authorities for the Aadhaar discrepancies. You please write to the concerned authority.”

“Having said that, I believe that today when an organization takes the street and tries to present this as somebody’s responsibility is incorrect and that is something which we need to put in the right perspective and correct that information that is being circulated,” she stated further.

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