Patna: School students whose bank accounts are not linked with their Aadhaar cards will be barred from availing the benefits of the Bihar government's welfare schemes.

The state education department has issued a notice directing government schools and block and district education officers to get the students to link their Aadhaar numbers with their bank accounts.

The state education department provides monetary assistance to students under various welfare schemes. A few among them are the chief minister's cycle scheme for students studying in Class IX, uniform schemes for students from classes I to VI, scholarship schemes and sanitary napkins scheme for girls.

The education department has issued a notice signed by principal secretary R.K. Mahajan. The notice says that parents/guardians of students studying in government schools have been directed to link their wards' bank account with Aadhaar.

If any student doesn't have a bank account, their parents have been advised to open one. School principals and education department officials have also been asked to help students in opening a bank account and get it linked to Aadhaar.

An education department official who spoke under the cover of anonymity said: "According to the education department's notice, the students have been asked to link their bank account number by November 15."

Sources said that of 2.25 crore students studying in government schools, around 70 per cent have bank accounts. As of May this year, about 82 per cent people in Bihar had Aadhaar cards.

Government sources were not sure of the number of students with Aadhaar cards.

Sanjay Singh, project director, Bihar Educational Project Council, said: "The state government is serious about providing benefits to only those candidates whose bank account is linked with Aadhaar. As the number is less than 50 per cent, education officials have been asked to do the job on a priority basis."

The education department notice also says that benefits of welfare schemes will be given to only those students who have recorded 75 per cent attendance till September. This, the official said, is to check "ghost" students - those enrolled with government schools but studying in private institutions - from availing the benefits.

The notice has given the Opposition a stick to beat the government with. RJD chief spokesperson Bhai Birendra said: "The government is anti-poor. As the government has no funds to provide benefits to all, it is distributing schemes to only select people."