Health Ministry Makes Aadhaar Mandatory For TB Patients Seeking Cash Help From Govt

Aadhaar has been made compulsory for tuberculosis (TB) patients and health providers seeking cash assistance under a central programme.

According a report in Scroll, through a web page application Nikshay, the revised programme can be administered online. It is mandatory for all government and private healthcare providers to register TB patients using Nikshay.

The Union ministry of health and family welfare has issued a notification on June 16, saying those eligible to receive conditional cash assistance using Nikshay will need Aadhaar, the 12-digit biometric number assigned to residents in India.

“We want to ensure that the patient identity number (in Nikshay) is linked with Aadhaar identity number. Otherwise, there are double or triple entries in our database of the same patient. So, when the patient comes for treatment, they should come with Aadhaar,” said Dr Sunil Khaparde, deputy director general of central TB division, Scroll reported.

If the patients are not enrolled under Aadhaar, they must apply for Aadhaar in order to provide the enrollment slip along with other documents by August 31.

However, Blessina Kumar, chairperson of the Global Coalition of TB Activists, said the linking of Aadhaar would create yet another barrier in accessing the care for TB patients, the report said.

“We have 1,400 deaths a day because of TB…We need to be removing hurdles, not adding them,” said Kumar.

India accounts for 2.8 million of the 10.4 million new TB cases globally, according to the World Health Organisation Global TB Report 2016which revised and raised its global estimates in 2016 after improved surveillance data from India registered a 34% spike in new cases. The central government has set a target to eliminate TB in India by 2025.

In February Hindustan Times reported that the spike in new TB cases is because e-Nikshay has made it easier for practitioners in the public and private sector to register cases, but recording data is not enough. Most people don’t know how to use the data. TB is continuing to devastate lives because of the government’s inability to regulate an exploitive private health sector, and to fill gaps in the supply of live-saving medicines.

“There is no question of denying treatment to any patient. Whoever does not have an Aadhaar can apply for it while the treatment is on too,” Khaparde told Scroll while defending the government’s move.

The government has also made quoting of biometric identity number Aadhaar mandatory for opening of bank accounts as well as for any financial transaction of Rs 50,000 and above. Existing bank account holders have been asked to furnish the Aadhaar number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) by December 31, 2017, failing which the account will cease to be operational, according to a revenue department notification.

The government in Budget 2017 has already mandated seeding of Aadhaar number with Permanent Account Number to avoid individuals using multiple PANs to evade taxes.