Provide Aadhaar cards to sex workers without home proof, SC tells UIDAI

New Delhi: Sex workers enjoy equal right to dignity, decency and privacy under the Constitution, the Supreme Court has said, and directed the UIDAI to provide them with Aadhaar cards even if are unable to furnish any residence proof on the basis of "proforma certificates" issued by a Gazetted Officer at NACO or the State Health Department certifying their particulars.

NACO or the state Health Department can also verify their names forwarded by community-based organisations and send them for necessary action.

There shall be no breach of confidentiality in the process, including assignment of any code in the Aadhaar enrolment numbers that identify the card holder as a sex worker, a bench led by Justice L Nageswara Rao ordered on May 19, 2022. The order was uploaded recently. Justice Rao has since demitted office.

The police and the press were also directed to respect the dignity, decency and privacy of the sex workers.

"... basic protection of human decency and dignity extends to sex workers and their children, who, bearing the brunt of social stigma attached to their work, are removed to the fringes of society, deprived of their right to live with dignity and opportunities to provide the same to their children," the court said.