SC allows voluntary use of Aadhar for MNREGA, Jan Dhan, EPF

A day after the Supreme Court allowed the government to make implementation of Aadhaar card voluntary, it has now expanded the scope of the card’s use for various schemes and services on a temporary basis.The apex court today extended Aadhaar’s implementation to schemes including MNREGA, pension schemes, Jan Dhan and Employee Provident Fund (EPF). Earlier, the apex court order had limited the use of Aadhaar card to Public Distribution System (PDS), LPG and kerosene.The decision of validating the voluntary use of Aadhaar was made by a five judge constitutional bench headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI).However, the court reiterated that people without Aadhaar can not be placed in a disadvantageous position. In addition, it has reiterated that the identity card be made purely voluntary and not mandatory.