Hyderabad, Jan 17: A 10-year-old Dalit girl in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district was denied scholarship as the Aadhar card misspelled her name. The girl, J Indu, is being identified as 'J Hindu' by her unique identification card.

Indu, a resident of Amadagur village in Anantapur, is enrolled at a state-run primary school. Her parents, as well as the school authorities, applied for changes in her Aadhaar card. However, the name remained misprinted in the new card issued by the UIDAI as well, claims a report published by the People's Archive of Rural India (PARI).

Indu, belonging to the Scheduled Tribes community, is entitled to an annual scholarship of Rs 1,200. Along with her, two more girls - both Dalits - have been denied the scholarship due to their names being misspelled in the Aadhaar card.

The amount of scholarship is used by the parents for buying "pens, extra books and sometimes, even clothes", said the school headmaster S Roshiah, while speaking to PARI.

Amadagur is one of the most backward regions in Andhra Pradesh, with most residents working as marginal farmers or agricultural labourers for a living.

The plight of Indu comes at a time when the Supreme Court of India is hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar. The unique identification system is a "giant electronic mess" which will turn the country into a "surveillance state", the petitioners told the five-judge SC bench on Wednesday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 17, 2018 06:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).