A complaint was filed before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) regarding the long-standing denial of food, education, healthcare, housing, and identity to tribal families in Sambalpur district, Odisha, due to absence of Aadhaar documentation.

It was submitted that the families, belonging to a Scheduled Tribe community, had been residing in the said area for nearly 30 years, but even then, they remained excluded from official records and welfare systems due to absence of Aadhaar cards and institutional birth certificates. The complainant stated that most individuals were born at home and that no alternative mechanism had been effectively provided to establish identity or residence for Aadhaar enrolment.

The complainant averred that resultantly, the families had been completely excluded from essential government services and benefits. They were being denied subsidized food grains under the Public Distribution System, admission of children to schools and anganwadi centres, access to healthcare services, insurance schemes, maternity benefits, and pensions, being forced to live in unsafe shelters, and were also denied educational entitlements.

Further, it was contended that despite repeated approaches to local grievance redressal mechanisms and assurances of surveys and corrective action, no effective relief had been provided on the ground and that the continued insistence on Aadhaar without interim safeguards or alternative identification methods had resulted in prolonged exclusion and deprivation. Contending that the ongoing circumstances amount to violations of Articles 14, 21, 21A, 46 of the Constitution and Section 2(d) of Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the complainant submitted that this was also contrary to the established legal principle that lack of Aadhaar should not result in denial of basic rights and entitlements.

NHRC noted the averment made in the complaint regarding the administrative inaction despite the State’s constitutional duty to protect the Scheduled Tribes and to ensure basic rights. The Commission ordered a copy of the complaint to be transmitted to the Chief Secretary, Govt. of Odisha, the District Magistrate, Sambalpur, and the Chief Executive Officer, the Unique Identification Authority of India, through online mode to ensure needful action. The authorities were also directed to submit action taken reports to the Commission within four weeks.

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