A major glitch in the ongoing Biometric Authentication Drive of beneficiary students for Scholarship Schemes of Ministry of Minority Affairs, GoI was revealed on Thursday in Mokokchung when the news of students remaining in queues till 9:30 PM in their school caught the attention of the Ao Kaketshir Mungdang (AKM).
It was learnt that personnel of the Common Service Centre were able to authenticate the biometric of only 180 students out of a total of around 450 students in Queen Mary Higher Secondary School, Mokokchung on Thursday from 9:00 AM to 9:30PM.
The students said that there was no prior information regarding the Biometric Authentication Drive and that they were informed about it only on Thursday. It is learnt that the Directorate of School Education, Nagaland, Kohima had on 3 August issued a circular on the Biometric Authentication Drive to all the DEOs but the information somehow never reached the beneficiary students.
On learning the students’ grievances, AKM officials visited the school and met the authority as well as the students. “After gathering information from the school authority, we have come to realize that there are flaws in the Biometric Authentication process,” AKM General Secretary Satemmongba said.
The AKM leader said that Mokokchung was allotted 14-20 August for completing the Biometric Authentication Drive but 15 August being a public holiday, he said it was practically impossible to complete the process in the whole district. “We will approach the district administration tomorrow itself to do the needful,” he informed, while urging the students and parents to remain patient.
He said that many students were yet to have their AADHAR Card updated and that the number of days allotted for completing the process was too short, while adding that the district administration should find ways to allot more days to complete the biometric authentication process.
The AKM leader also divulged that a handful of CSC staff completing the authentication process of all the eligible students in the whole district within two or three days was highly improbable.
It has been learned that only 5 out of 300 students were authenticated at Mayangnokcha GHSS on Wednesday. Similarly, the process could not be completed at Edith Douglas HSS either, it was learnt.
The Principal of QMHSS is reported to have said that the school was informed about the drive only on Thursday and that the students were informed about it immediately.
The parents also shared that many students do not possess updated AADHAR cards and that it was not fair to inform them about the authentication drive at the last minute without any prior information. Most students who were in Class 10 and Class 12 last year are now pursuing their studies out of town, another concern expressed by the parents.