AKM detects flaw in biometric authentication drive for scholarship

MOKOKCHUNG —  Ao Students’ Conference (AKM) has detected major glitch in the ongoing biometric authentication drive of beneficiary students for scholarship under the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India, after it received information that students were made to stay in the school till 9:30 pm on August 17 evening.

On learning the students’ grievances, AKM officials visited the school and met the authority as well as the students and took stock of the situation.

It was learned that three operators from the Common Service Centre were able to authenticate the biometric of only 180 students out of a total of 450 plus students in Queen Mary Higher Secondary School, Mokokchung, on August 17 from 9 am to 9:30 pm.

The operators disclosed that servers were down during the day due to traffic overload and had to resume only after late afternoon.

The students claimed that there was no prior information regarding the biometric authentication drive and that they were informed about it only on August 17. Besides, it was the only day allotted to the school to complete the biometric authentication drive.

Even the operator said that they cannot change or extend the slot of a school set by their superior.

It was learned that the Directorate of School Education, Kohima, had on August 3, issued a circular on the biometric authentication drive to all the DEO but the information somehow never reached the beneficiary students.

“After gathering information from the school authority, we have come to realise that there are flaws in the biometric authentication process,” said Satemmongba, AKM general secretary.

AKM informed that Mokokchung was allotted from August 14 to the 20th for completing the biometric authentication drive. It added that since August 15 being a public holiday, it was practically impossible to complete the process in the whole district.

They reasoned that a handful of CSC operators completing the authentication process of all the eligible students in the whole district within two or three days was highly improbable.

Meanwhile, AKM has urged the students and parents to remain patient and assured to take up the matter with concerned authority to do the needful.

AKM was informed that many students were yet to have their Aadhaar card updated and that the number of days allotted for completing the process was too short. Many students felt that the district administration should find ways to allot more days to complete the biometric authentication process.

It was learned that only 5 out of 300 students were authenticated at Mayangnokcha Government Higher Secondary School on August 16. Similarly, the process could not be completed at Edith Douglas Higher Secondary School.

The principal of QMHSS stated that the school was informed about the drive only on August 17 and that the students were informed about it immediately.

The parents also shared that many students do not possess updated Aadhaar cards and that it was not fair to inform them about the authentication drive at the last minute without any prior information. Parents also stated that most students who were in Class 10 and Class 12 last year are now pursuing their studies out of town.

Satemmongba informed that they have met DEO Mokokchung on August 18 itself and also monitored the ongoing biometric authentication drive at Fazl Ali College.

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