Aadhar Card : Now a mandatory Requirement for getting Central University Fellowship
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has made it a mandatory requirement for research scholars those who are getting a fellowship or want to get a fellowship from a central university has to have an aadhar card on their name.
The UGC has written to all central universities and has asked them to provide the names of research scholars those who have enrolled for a fellowship and their Aadhaar numbers by the end of July. This decision was taken so that there is no duplication and the real beneficiaries get the benefits of government scholarships and fellowships.
According to a senior UGC official, fellowships and scholarships have been linked to Aadhaar from this academic year. It has been made mandatory for scholars who have qualified NET and are availing the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) to provide their Aadhaar card number to the universities.
A senior official of UGC said that the HRD ministry had instructed them that from the financial year 2016-17 Aadhaar has been made mandatory for disbursement of all government subsidies/ scholarships/ fellowships. These will be disbursed directly to the beneficiaries’ account (Direct Bank
Transfer).The official said that they have sent a number of communications to the universities to comply with the order. He added that the proposal will ensure students get their fellowship amount on time and there is no discrimination.
A student of a central university said that they will have to apply for the card. The student expressed fear that as he is not from Delhi and he doesn’t have any address proof so he will have to provide his hometown address. And due to all this, there should not be a delay during verification otherwise the fellowship will get delayed.
The Supreme Court said last year that Aadhaar could be linked to six government schemes – Public Distribution Scheme, LPG distribution Scheme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the National Social Assistance Programme, Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana and Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation – on a ‘voluntary’ basis.
