Sex Workers Can Now Get Aadhaar Cards Without Address Proof, Says UIDAI To Supreme Court. This Is Great
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has told the Supreme Court that they will issue Aadhaar cards to sex workers without address proof. The statutory authority has said that the sex workers will be issued Aadhaar cards only on the basis of a certificate issued by a gazetted officer of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) or of the state health department and will not insist upon proof of residence.
On Monday, the UIDAI placed the proposed proforma of the certificate in front of the Supreme court bench led by Justice LN Rao. The bench was hearing a petition seeking social security benefits for all sex workers across the country as well as formulating a rehabilitation scene for all those who want to get out of sex work. This came in response to the top court’s order dated 10 January asking authorities to explore the option of issuing Aadhaar cards based on the information of the sex workers with NACO and treat it as proof of residence. For the unversed, NACO is a Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare department that maintains a central database on sex workers.
The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by NGO Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee. The plea sought monthly dry ration and cash transfers for sex workers who were in financial trouble amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Amid the hearing, the advocate for the petitioner had listed the difficulties faced by the sex workers while seeking Aadhaar card enrolment due to address proof that could not be produced by them.
Also Read: Supreme Court Orders Government To Issue Ration Card And ID Cards To Sex Workers, Says Fundamental Rights Are For Everyone
Earlier, almost 10 years ago, the Supreme Court had asked the State Governments and Union Territories to provide dry ration to sex workers without identity proof but the same was not done. Taking note of the same, the Supreme Court had issued an order in December 2021, to issue ration cards, Aadhaar cards and voter identity cards to sex workers as per the list maintained by NACO.
