Mandatory Aadhaar to hit jobs, ration for migrant workers

Ahna Prakash| NT

 Bengaluru

The migrant worker who bore the brunt of the Covid pandemic when many lost their livelihood means and were forced to flee across state borders to their homes, is once again at the crossroads. This time, the Union government's decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing the benefits of welfare schemes, will hit them hard.

Many migrant workers working at construction sites expressed dissatisfaction with the circular making the Aadhaar card a must for the schemes. They say they haven't even received job cards under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act(MGNREGA).

 "We didn't get job cards because we didn't have proper documents. If Aadhaar is made mandatory, it will become difficult for us to survive. We lost our documents while migrating from Bengal,” said Rashid, a migrant worker at Kengeri.

According to the data provided by the Ministry of Rural Development, 58 per cent of workers under MGNREGA have not received job cards under the scheme. The data states that 176.93 lakh workers registered under the scheme in Karnataka while only 75.88 lakh have been given job cards.

 Ashish Ranjan of Jan Jagran Shakti Sangathan Trade Union, said, “People who have migrated here from the north, don’t have the documents. There is lack of awareness as well.’’

Sarada Gopal of Right to Food campaign says, “The government has launched schemes like ‘one nation, one ration card’, but to avail benefits of the scheme, one requires a ration card linked to the Aadhaar card. The scheme will fall flat once the Aadhaar rule comes into force.’’

 One Nation One Ration Card Scheme (ONORC) allows a beneficiary to access their food entitlements from anywhere in India, irrespective of where the ration card is registered. The Supreme Court ordered states and Union Territories to implement the scheme by July 31, 2021. It further asked the Centre and States to look after the National Database for Unorganized Workers (NUDW) and register all unorganized workers by July 31, 2021