The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry is said to have expressed concern over the Centre's push to link the Aadhaar number with subsidy schemes related to school education. At a recent inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Dr. A.R. Sihag, Secretary (Coordination and Public Grievances) in the Cabinet Secretariat, the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL), under the HRD Ministry, said the decision to use the Aadhaar number as an identification document for receiving benefits under various school-related schemes needs more deliberation. The Cabinet Secretariat has issued a directive in November, asking all the Ministries to issue notification under Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, which makes the use of Aadhaar "an identifier for delivery of various subsidies or benefits or schemes" to beneficiaries. So far, the Centre is believed to have identified 31 schemes where the Aadhaar number can be used as identification for providing various benefits. However, there is uncertainty over the 11 schemes of the HRD Ministry identified to be covered under the Aadhaar Act. The proposed notification to link two centrally sponsored student scholarship schemes - to promote enrolment of the girl child and economically weaker sections in schools - with Aadhaar has been put on hold after the Supreme Court stayed the mandatory use of Aadhaar in one of the scholarship schemes of West Bengal in September. In a December meeting, the Cabinet Secretariat asked the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the nodal body assigned to roll out Aadhaar all over the country, to "expedite and take the opinion of the Attorney General in respect of notifications to be issued for [two] scholarship schemes at the earliest." The Cabinet Secretariat also asked the HRD Ministry to "expedite preparation of draft notification in respect of the remaining nine schemes" such as Mid-Day Meal Scheme and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.