NEW DELHI: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which administers Aadhaar, said that six members of the family of the 11-year-old Jharkhand girl who allegedly died of starvation had Aadhaar and stringent action must be taken against those who allegedly denied her benefits under food subsidy scheme.
Activists have alleged that the 11-year-old girl in Simdega district died of starvation as her family’s ration card was cancelled as it was not linked to Aadhaar. Terming the incident as "unfortunate", UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey said this was not a case of denial of benefits because of Aadhaar, as the family had the 12-digit unique identification number since 2013.
Pandey said Section 7 of Aadhaar Act stipulates that the benefit shall be given on the basis of Aadhaar. However, he added that the Aadhaar Act was "absolutely clear" that no one would be denied benefits for lack of Aadhaar.
"Section 7 specifies that till Aadhaar number is prescribed, the benefits should be given through alternate means of identification," Pandey said.
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