Social media was quick to slam the government’s much-flaunted Aadhar project soon after the supreme court on Monday ruled that Aadhar cards should not be made mandatory for the economically deprived section to get government benefits.

The verdict on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook was near-unanimous: most people claimed that time and money of the taxpayers had been wasted for no reason on rolling out this gargantuan scheme.

The result: not long after the apex court’s ruling, #Aadhar was trending on Twitter.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister 0mar Abdullah, known for his quick wit and Twitter-friendly observations, posted: “FLASH: All Chinese intruders has decided to return their #Aadhar cards to India as Supreme Court orders NOT to grant it to illegal Migrants.”

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We cull out some of the interesting tweets:

Not That Arnab (a Twitter handle that clarifies that it’s a “parody account. Not affiliated with real Arnab Goswami): “Aadhar Card is basically Niraadhar Card.. Blow to all those who gave their finger prints to Government.”

Vasuki Belavadi (associate professor at University of Hyderabad ): “First they said get your #Aadhar card. Then they said connect it with your #bankaccount. Then they said #gasconnection. Now I am told it's not mandatory! And then I am also told #NandanNilekani might contest #elections on a #Congress ticket!Why doesn’t someone tell us WHAT SHOULD BE DONE, ONCE & FOR ALL”

Veteran journalist Prabhu Chawla (‏@PrabhuChawla) posted: "#Aadhar cards not compulsory: Supreme Court" jai ho.” And, “…Because Aadhar is an illegal card forced on the people at Rs 18000 crore cost.”

Abhimanyu Singh (@oye_Abhi): “Only person benefited from this #Aadhar scheme is Nandan Nilekani. As he managed a launchpad for his political career #AadharIsNirAadhar”

Jal Kukdi (@DrShwetaPuri): “Chinese troops intruding the Indian territory have all the rights to get Aadhar card.. After all they are building roads for us.”
Krishna Pophale (@kpophale): “#SC says #Aadhar not mandatory. Thank you judges. I still havent rcevd it 27 mnths after enrolling for it. I was wondering hw 2 survive”

Meenal Dugar (@meenaliz): “What a waste of money and time of d people standing for an #Aadhar, well this happens only in #India”

Amey Asuti (@ameyasuti): “Welcome the slap to Nandan Nilekani and the NRI idiots who came up with Aadhar Card... pity the millions who stood in long lines.”

Chronology of events

• On January 1, 2013, the government made Aadhar cards, or the unique identification (UID) number, mandatory to avail a range of essential services, including marriage registration, disbursal of salaries and LPG connections, among others.
• The same day, the government launched the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme to allow transfer of subsidies directly to people living below the poverty line (BPL).
• KS Puttaswamy, a retired judge of the Karnataka High Court, filed a public interest legislation (PIL), alleging that the government was bypassing parliament by going ahead with the distribution of UID numbers to all people living in India.
• According to the petitioner, it breached the fundamental right of privacy by collection of personal data in the hands of the government.
• Another petition that triggered Monday’s supreme court judgment brought to the apex court’s notice two orders of the Maharashtra government, which said that salaries would not be disbursed to employees who do not have Aadhar card.
• Reacting to the court order, revenue secretary Dharam Pal said: “It’s a big setback. We had made huge investments in the generation of the Aadhar card. It will, in turn, also affect a lot of government schemes which have (already) been put in place.”