NEW DELHI:

The Union Health Ministry has decided to vaccinate people belonging to the lower strata of society, who do not possess valid identity cards to register themselves on the government CoWIN portal.

In this regard, the centre has issued an SOP entrusting the district task force with the responsibility of registering those groups of people on CoWIN, who do not have photo identity cards required for registering on the portal.

The groups falling under this category will include, beggars, prison inmates, hawkers or any other such persons who may not be familiar with the registration process or may not possess the valid identity card to complete the registration.

The Union Government has stated that COVID-19 vaccination services may not be denied in absence of identity proofs, given the massive population India has.

Since all vaccination against COVID-19 has to be registered on the website, one key facilitator with a valid identity card will be identified as a single point of contact for vaccination of these groups, the centre said.

Further prison officials, old age home officials can serve as key facilitators for the vaccination drive.

Who will be vaccinated in the process??

The centre has identified several groups of people for vaccination without photo identity cards. Such groups of people include nomads (including sadhu/saints from various religions), prison inmates, inmates in mental health institutions, people in old age homes, beggars, people residing in rehabilitation centres and any other identified eligible persons not having any of the seven prescribed photo ID cards.

The centre further stated that the vaccination of these groups of people will take place only at government centres.

(Edited by Shankar Kumar Turha)

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