K'taka: Delay in authentication of Aadhaar with SATS deprives 26 lakh students of many govt schemes
Bengaluru: Around 26 lakh primary and high school students from government, aided, and private schools across Karnataka are reportedly being deprived of midday meals, scholarships, and other schemes due to failure of Aadhaar authentication with the Student Achievement Tracking System (SATS).
The Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) has expressed dissatisfaction over the delay in completing Aadhaar authentication, despite the process being underway for the past two years, as reported by The Hindu on Tuesday.
The Commissioner of Public Instruction has decided to take disciplinary action against the officials responsible for the delay. A seven-day deadline has been set to complete the Aadhaar authentication process.
The DSEL has been working on the Aadhaar authentication process alongside SATS for the past two years to ensure the proper implementation of the midday meal programme, scholarships, and other initiatives, while also gathering accurate data on the number of students.
Out of a total of 1.04 crore students in the state from classes 1 to 10, only 78 lakh have successfully completed the Aadhaar authentication process, the report stated. Around 18 lakh students’ Aadhaar records remain unauthenticated in the system. Additionally, about 8 lakh students had their Aadhaar authenticated, but it was deemed unsuccessful due to mismatches between the student's details and the information in Aadhaar and SATS.
A senior official of DSEL stated that if Aadhaar authentication with SATS fails, it will impact the implementation of the midday meal and other programmes for school students. Inaccurate student numbers may lead to the Union Government objecting to the release of funds. “In addition, other departments, including the Social Welfare Department, Backward Classes Welfare Department and Minority Welfare Department, will not be able to reach the students with other schemes, including scholarships. Aadhaar authentication with SATS is the only solution for all these problems,” the official was quoted as saying by the news outlet.
K.V. Trilokchandra, Commissioner of DPI, has issued a circular to all Deputy Directors of Public Instruction (DDPIs), Block Education Officers (BEOs) and other department officials, instructing them to complete the Aadhaar authentication process within the given time frame.
He mentioned that Aadhaar authentication is mandatory with SATS to deliver various government schemes to children. "The Aadhaar authentication process has been simplified recently and all students Aadhaar authentication with SATS process will be completed soon," he added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
AI-enabled sign language interpretation, live dubbing of PM's speech at AI Impact Summit
New Delhi (PTI): India's strides in artificial intelligence were showcased during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the AI Impact Summit here on Thursday, which was dubbed live in 11 languages, along with an AI-enabled sign language interpretation.
The AI-enabled sign language interpretation was projected on a large screen behind the prime minister in the auditorium at Bharat Mandapam, ensuring the speech was accessible to everyone.
The speech was dubbed live in 11 languages: Assamese, Bangla, English, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.
Videos featuring the multilingual and sign language interpretations were shared on the prime minister's social media accounts.
