Government of Rajasthan clarifies to SFLC.IN that Aadhaar is not mandatory for COVID-19 testing
Recently, it was brought to our notice that the Rajasthan government had made Aadhaar mandatory for the RT-PCR mobile app during sample collection of COVID-19 tests vide their guidelines dated 25.07.2020.
In this regard, SFLC.IN had written to the Chief Minister of Rajasthan Government, Minister of Health and Family Welfare in Rajasthan, and to the Principal Secretary of Health urging them to withdraw the mandatory requirement of Aadhaar for RT-PCR mobile app when the samples for COVID-19 tests are collected. The decision by the Government of Rajasthan was not only exclusionary in nature but also in violation of the judgment of the Supreme Court in Justice Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2019 (1) SCC 1) wherein it was held that Aadhaar is mandatory for:
a. filing income tax returns; and
b. for availing government subsidies charged upon the Consolidated Fund of India.
In this regard, we received an email from the Health department of Rajasthan government on 31.08.2020 stating that the Aadhaar has not been made mandatory for COVID-19 testing. We commend this step by the Rajasthan government.
However, the Rajasthan government is yet to update the of guidelines stating the same. We have written to the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Minister of Health and to the Principal Health Secretary of the Rajasthan Government requesting to update their patitent testing guidelines clarifying that any government identification card will be accepted for COVID-19 testing.
