Rescue operations continue to save boy stuck in Tamil Nadu borewell
Tiruchirappalli: Rescue operations continued for the third day on Sunday to bring out a three-old boy, who fell into an abandoned borewell near here, as special prayers were held across the Tamil Nadu for the safe return of the child.
State Health and Family Welfare Minister C Vijayabaskar and Tourism Minister 'Vellamandi' N Nagarajan, who have been camping at the site since Friday night, said all efforts were on to rescue the child.
Celebrities and politicians also joined thousands of people in praying for the well being of the boy.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a tweet said, "While the nation celebrates Deepavali, in Tamil Nadu a race agaisnt time is underway to save baby Surjeeth, who has been trapped in a borewell since Friday.
I pray that he will be rescued and reunited with his distraught parents at the earliest." Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth and Actor-politician Kamal Hassan also expressed hope that the boy would be safely rescued. Speaking to reporters at his residence here, Rajinikanth said, "I pray for the safe rescue of the boy."
"Parents should take care of children and precautionery measures should have been taken," he said. Actor-politician Kamal Haasan expressed concern over repeated incidents of children falling into defunct borewells.
"Efforts to rescue the child who is in danger should succeed. The government should impose hefty fine on those who left borewells open," he tweeted.
The boy had fallen into the borewell on Friday while playing near his house and rescue operations had started around 6 p.m. Initially the boy was stuck at a depth of 35 feet but later drifted further to over 90 feet.
Meanwhile, talking to reporters, Principal Secretary, Revenue Administration, Disaster Management and Mitigation department, J Radhakrishnan said modern equipment were being used in the rescue efforts.
Noting that standard operating procedures were being followed, he said, "a parallel borewell is being dug.. efforts are on .. We have a technical team at the spot comprising officials from L&T, ONGC, Neyveli Lignite Corporation."
"The Chief Minister has issued orders to ensure that rescue efforts were carried out without any hindrance," he said adding around 300 people were involved in the work.
The boy was continuously monitored and oxygen supplied to him, he added.
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SC to hear on May 4 PIL seeking stringent guidelines for issuing Aadhaar to adolescents, adults
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six years, and frame stringent guidelines for its issuance to adolescents and adults to stop infiltrators from masquerading as Indian citizens.
As per the apex court's causelist of May 4, the plea would come up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought a direction to the authorities to install display boards at common service centres stating that the 12-digit unique identification number is only a "proof of identity" and not a proof of citizenship, address or date of birth.
Besides all the states and Union Territories, the plea has made the UIDAI -- which is the authority that issues Aadhaar -- and the Union ministries of home, law and justice, and electronics and information technology as parties.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, said Aadhaar, originally intended as a proof of identity, has increasingly become a "foundational document" enabling individuals to obtain other identification documents, such as ration cards, domicile certificates and voter identity cards.
"The UIDAI has issued 144 crore Aadhaar and 99 percent Indians have been enrolled. Therefore, the petitioner is filing this writ petition as a PIL under Article 32, seeking a direction to UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar to children only and frame new stringent guidelines for adolescents and adults, so as to stop infiltrators from getting it and masquerading as Indian citizens," the plea said.
It said the need to file the plea arose when the petitioner came to know the manner in which infiltrators are able to procure Aadhaar through a verification process that is weak and can be easily manipulated.
"Foreigners apply for Aadhaar under the 'foreign' category. But infiltrators apply for Aadhaar under the 'Indian citizen' category and get it easily made. Thereafter, they obtain a ration card, birth and domicile certificate, driving licence, et cetera, essentially becoming indistinguishable from Indian citizens…," it said.
Besides seeking other directions, the plea has raised legal questions, including whether the Aadhaar Act 2016 has become "temporally unreasonable" for failing to keep up with the legislative intent of distinguishing foreigners from Indian citizens.
It said the alleged misuse of Aadhaar undermines targeted welfare delivery and leads to diversion of public resources.
