Aadhaar card is not mandatory for central government employees to get their pension, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh has said.

At 30th meeting of the Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies, Singh said Aadhaar was an additional facility to enable the use of technology for submission of life certificate without the need for visiting banks.

The minister clarified that Aadhaar has not been made mandatory for getting pension for government employees, according to the minutes of the meeting.

Singh cited various initiatives started by the central government for the welfare of its employees and pensioners.

“For instance, minimum pension has been increased to Rs 9,000, ceiling of gratuity has been increased to Rs 20 lakh, fixed medical allowance has been increased to Rs 1,000 per month,” the minister said.

“Constant attendance allowance has been increased from Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,750 with effect from July 1, 2017. Some benefits relating to income-tax e.g. standard deduction, tax-rebate etc.on interest made available in the Finance Bill, 2018,” he said.

His assertion assumes significance as there were reports of some retired employees facing difficulty in getting the pension in the absence of Aadhaar linkage with their bank accounts.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit number, issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), that acts as identification and address proof.

There are about 48.41 lakh central government employees and 61.17 lakh pensioners.

Clarification from the minister comes days after a Supreme Court judge, Justice DY Chandrachud, the son of late Chief Justice of India YV Chandrachud, had recalled a personal experience during the hearing on the Aadhaar issue that his mother, who was suffering for Alzheimer’s disease, had faced difficulty in authentication to get pension.
Justice Chandrachud is part of the 5-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, which is hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme and its enabling law of 2016.

Recalling his experience, Justice Chandrachud said, “My mother, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, was entitled to family pension being the wife of a former Chief Justice of India (late Justice YV Chandrachud). She had to give a thumb impression for authentication. I recall, every month the bank manager or his representative would come home and affix her thumb print on certain documents and only then could she get the pension,” Justice Chandrachud had said.

“So it (authentication) is a serious issue. It’s not largesse. It is not charity…we have to find answers for these problems,” he said, adding that there was a class of needy people who may not get the benefits due to authentication failures.

Also read | Aadhaar: Justice DY Chandrachud recalls how ailing mother faced problems to get pension

(With agency inputs)