The National Health Agency (NHA), the implementing body of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) or Ayushman Bharat scheme got a boost with Supreme Court upholding Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act that makes Aadhaar mandatory for availing government schemes and subsidies.
"We would prefer to have Aadhaar, however, will not deny services if there is no Aadhaar," said Indu Bhushan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) and NHA to Moneycontrol.
PMJAY, that aims to provide Rs 5 lakh coverage to 10 crore poor families or nearly half a billion people, is notified under Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act. The scheme was launched last week. Use of unique identification number (UID) allows PMJAY to eliminate duplicate beneficiaries and claims.
To be sure it's not PMJAY alone, the government has issued nearly 139 notifications under Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act to make it
mandatory for availing certain benefits and subsidies, including PDS, MGNREGA and social security pensions.
Section 7 has been the focal point of the Aadhaar litigation. The government argued the rationale behind Section 7 is to ensure targeted delivery of services and benefits which are funded from the Consolidated Fund of India. The petitioner against Aadhaar argued that Section 7 or the mandatory authentication through the Aadhaar platform violates the right to informational privacy.
"An individual’s rights and entitlements cannot be made dependent upon an invasion of his or her bodily integrity and his or her private information which the individual may not be willing to share with the State," the petitioners argued.
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