TISS asks students to submit Aadhaar details

Students at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, have raised concerns over the recent circular issued by the institute making it mandatory for students to submit their Aadhaar details and fingerprints for biometric attendance and fellowships.

The institute registrar, in a letter dated May 25, has asked all the students under its masters programmes to furnish these details after the semester begins in June. "Biometric attendance is an institutional norm and all students are required to follow it. Students who are unable to provide fingerprint and submit their Aadhaar card will be deemed to have discontinued from the programme of study at TISS," states the letter.

It further states, "From this semester onwards, the institute will not be able to provide financial aid to students from SC/ST/OBC category (with family income below GoI norms). Relevant Central Ministries...and state governments have not reimbursed the cost borne by the institute, despite repeated requests. As the costs incurred by TISS on this account have not been reimbursed, the institute faces a deficit of over Rs 20 crore...the institute requests the concerned students to mobilise resources for tuition fee, hostel, and dining hall charges."

Students said that the mandate over Aadhaar is a privacy intrusion and would exclude students who do not have the ID proof. "How can the institute take such a drastic step without consulting students? Why should there be a mandate on compulsory Aadhaar and biometric?" said a PhD scholar. Dr S Parasuraman, Director, TISS, said that the introduction of biometric attendance aims to make the process smooth.

...& ANALYSIS

• Supreme Court is yet to decide if Centre and its various departments and institutions are right in making Aadhaar mandatory. TISS could have waited to seek Aadhaar details from its students.