The fear that he might not be able to utilise scholarship and the mid-day meal scheme appears to have compelled the 11-year-old Kora Balakrishna, a student of Class VI of Government High School, Kilogudda village of Dumbriguda mandal, to take his life. The boy committed suicide by hanging himself at his home on Sunday in Diguvakolaputtu village.
His fear was concretised, when he was denied an Aadhaar card, which is supposed to be linked to all government schemes, as the authorities had told him that it was not possible for him to get an Aadhaar card as his fingers were joined. They were not aware that it was a genetic disorder and his father and two of his siblings were affected with the same disorder. Sources in the village say that none of them had been given Aadhaar cards for the same reason.
However, Joint Collector of Visakhapatnam District Pravin Kumar said this could not be a reason for denial of Aadhaar Card. “There are a number of other ways to certify. The concerned authority or manager at the centre can certify the disorder and issue a card,” he said.
According to District Education Officer M.V. Krishna Reddy, District Collector N. Yuvaraj has already ordered an inquiry into the matter and the committee will be headed by the Deputy Director of Tribal Welfare and RDO.
However, the JC said getting oneself enrolled for Aadhaar or linking it to scheme did not mean that a student not enrolled would not be provided the benefits.
