Lok Sabha Question No. 3303 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-05
Subject: Requirement of Aadhaar for SNP
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Rahul Gandhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3303 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.08.2022

## REQUIREMENT OF AADHAAR FOR SNP

## 3303.   SHRI RAHUL GANDHI:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to make Aadhaar mandatory for beneficiaries to avail benefits under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) and if so, the reasons therefor;
- (b) the total  number of beneficiaries under the SNP along with those beneficiaries without Aadhaar cards, State-wise;
- (c) the status of seeding of beneficiary details in the Poshan tracker app, State-wise;
- (d) whether  the  Ministry  is  aware  that  mandating  such  a requirement  could potentially  pose  a  danger  to  the  food  and  nutritional  security  of  millions  of vulnerable children across India, especially given the low rate of enrollment for children under the age of six; and
- (e) if so, the measures being taken to ensure uninterrupted provision of edible items under the SNP for the beneficiaries?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a)  to  (e)  A  child's  Aadhaar  card  is  not  mandatory  for  availing  the  benefits  under  the Supplementary Nutrition Programme of the Anganwadi Services Scheme. The benefits under  the  scheme  can  be  accessed  using  the  mother's  Aadhaar  card.  Anganwadi Services scheme is being digitized by the Ministry through the POSHAN Tracker App to enable the Ministry to identify the beneficiaries as part of the programme as a whole and to ensure uninterrupted supply of nutrition to the children,  Pregnant Women and Lactating  mothers  and  adolescents  girl  beneficiaries,  who  move  within  the  State  or outside the state due to any reason. A migration module for shifting from one AWC to another,  has  been  provided  in  POSHAN  Tracker  to  facilitate  nutrition  to  migrant beneficiaries.

So far approximately 10.63 crore beneficiaries have been registered under the scheme  as  per  Poshan  Tracker  and  approximately  53%  have  been  Aadhar  verified covering  around  5.61  crore  beneficiaries.  However,  all  beneficiaries  registered  are benefited under the Scheme.

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The number of beneficiaries of Supplementary Nutrition along with their Aadhaar seeding status is tabulated as below:

| S.No.   | State/UT                           |   Total Beneficiaries (children 6 mo-6 years plus P&LM) |   Aadhaar Verified | Aadhaar Verified (%)   |
|---------|------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|--------------------|------------------------|
| 1.      | Andaman & Nicobar Islands          |                                                   15578 |               9753 | 63%                    |
| 2.      | Andhra Pradesh                     |                                                 3216993 |            2698967 | 84%                    |
| 3.      | Arunachal Pradesh                  |                                                   44696 |               9613 | 22%                    |
| 4.      | Assam                              |                                                 4360573 |            3417745 | 78%                    |
| 5.      | Bihar                              |                                                11236775 |            2826131 | 25%                    |
| 6.      | Chhattisgarh                       |                                                 2840904 |            2227967 | 78%                    |
| 7.      | Dadra & Nagar Haveli - Daman & Diu |                                                   35280 |               7957 | 23%                    |
| 8.      | Delhi                              |                                                  770476 |             497300 | 65%                    |
| 9.      | Goa                                |                                                   85235 |              12003 | 14%                    |
| 10.     | Gujarat                            |                                                 3867909 |            3649489 | 94%                    |
| 11.     | Haryana                            |                                                 1624033 |             972529 | 60%                    |
| 12.     | Himachal Pradesh                   |                                                  560902 |             243973 | 43%                    |
| 13.     | J&K                                |                                                  786488 |             190337 | 24%                    |
| 14.     | Jharkhand                          |                                                 3403921 |             224919 | 7%                     |
| 15.     | Karnataka                          |                                                 4304401 |            1527558 | 35%                    |
| 16.     | Kerala                             |                                                 3113215 |            1037706 | 33%                    |
| 17.     | Ladakh                             |                                                   19749 |               7299 | 37%                    |
| 18.     | Lakshadweep                        |                                                    4779 |                188 | 4%                     |
| 19.     | Madhya Pradesh                     |                                                 8805462 |            7313705 | 83%                    |
| 20.     | Maharashtra                        |                                                 7417008 |            1604347 | 22%                    |
| 21.     | Manipur                            |                                                  366578 |             213470 | 58%                    |
| 22.     | Meghalaya                          |                                                  485082 |              22462 | 5%                     |
| 23.     | Mizoram                            |                                                  128802 |              54631 | 42%                    |
| 24.     | Nagaland                           |                                                   88075 |               2126 | 2%                     |
| 25.     | Odisha                             |                                                 5136335 |            1510870 | 29%                    |
| 26.     | Puducherry                         |                                                   37986 |               5169 | 14%                    |
| 27.     | Punjab                             |                                                 1019356 |             161348 | 16%                    |
| 28.     | Rajasthan                          |                                                 4825369 |            1418929 | 29%                    |
| 29.     | Sikkim                             |                                                   48828 |              18015 | 37%                    |
| 30.     | Tamil Nadu                         |                                                 3608890 |            3493282 | 97%                    |
| 31.     | Telangana                          |                                                 2412842 |             879201 | 36%                    |
| 32.     | Tripura                            |                                                  390120 |             143713 | 37%                    |
| 33.     | UT-Chandigarh                      |                                                   53842 |              53167 | 99%                    |
| 34.     | Uttar Pradesh                      |                                                20257334 |           12076212 | 60%                    |
| 35.     | Uttarakhand                        |                                                  891762 |              99089 | 11%                    |
| 36.     | West Bengal                        |                                                10042050 |            7513340 | 75%                    |
|         | Total                              |                                               106307628 |           56144510 | 53%                    |