You can link your Aadhaar to govt schemes till March next year, but here's a catch

The Government on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that it has extended the mandatory linking of Aadhaar to central schemes to March 31, 2018 but it made clear that the extension is only for those who do not have an Aadhaar card yet. 

Advocate General K K Venugopal told the apex court that the Union government will take no coercive action against those who do not have Aadhaar and they will not be denied social welfare scheme benefits till March 31.

Earlier, the Centre had extended the same deadline to December 31 from September 30. 

Meanwhile, joining the Aadhaar seeding debate, public sector banks' officer union has demanded that mandatory linking of biometric identity number should be put on hold till such time the Supreme Court comes out with a clear directive.

Another organisation All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) has also registered their protest against instructions given by some of the banks to designate certain branches as special cells for enrolment of Aadhaar.

The government should make it clear before the common citizens of the country that the seeding of Aadhaar is purely voluntary and not mandatory, All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) said in a statement. 

The advisory to this effect should also be passed to all the stakeholders. We also demand that the government should look for alternatives or add more workforce into banks to implement Aadhaar related works in the public sector banks," AIBOC General Secretary D T Franco said.