Panna: Despite the Supreme Court orders preventing authorities from denying basic amenities on grounds of non-possession of Aadhaar, close to 50 kids from tribal families have been denied enrollment in school as they could not furnish Aadhaar cards in Panna district of Madhya Pradesh.

Most of the people in Hinauta village in Panna are from the ethnic Gond tribe. Parents of most of the kids who were denied admission work as labourers in diamond mines, coal mines or in construction projects.

One of the teachers from the government school, wishing anonymity, said that the problem was persisting for the last two years as parents can’t get Aadhaar cards for their wards as they keep switching locations frequently.

Though Aadhaar identification is not mandatory for admitting kids in schools, the education department portal only allows completion of enrollment process when Aadhaar number and Samagra ID is furnished.

With delays in procuring Aadhaar, kids at times are forced to enroll in classes much lower than their corresponding age. This year, children aged between 10 to 12 years have been enrolled in class one as their families could not get Aadhaar identification done on time.

“We have issued clear instructions that no child should be denied enrollment in schools for non-possession of Aadhaar numbers and we are working on some kind of solution to address this issue,” education minister Deepak Joshi said.