A 65 year old inmate of a Leprosy hospital in Karnataka has lost her pension because she does not have an Adhaar card. Now, it’s not like Sajida Begum is a privacy activist or a conscientious objector to Adhaar. She suffers from advanced leprosy as a result of which she has lost both her eyes and all her fingers, making biometric identification impossible. This is why an Adhaar card has not been issued to her in the first place.
Sajida has been living at the Magadi Road facility in Bengaluru for the last ten years after she was abandoned by her family. Her only sustenance came from the Rs 1000/- she received as pension. However, in the absence of an Adhaar card, her pension was stopped three months ago. She received a letter from the Tehsildar’s office stating her social benefits would be stopped if she did not link her pension to Adhaar.
There are 57 inmates at the facility and 10 of them don’t have an Adhaar card. While various government authorities have promised to ‘look into the matter’ ever since the story first broke, it is ordinary people who have come to Sajida’s help. Many people have offered to send her a monthly allowance.