People will be able to enroll for Aadhaar card, make corrections or update at post offices across the State by the turn of this year, hopefully bringing in some respite from the serpentine queues of people waiting endlessly for paperwork.
After the demonetisation pain which the common man had to go through, next came the Aadhaar card linkages. Every bank, financial company, insurance company and even mobile operator have now made linking of Aadhaar number mandatory with some even setting deadlines with a rider that services are liable to be terminated. All bank accounts have to be now compulsory linked to Aadhaar numbers by December-end failing which there will be a freeze on transactions. These mandatory linkages have put tremendous pressure on the common man who is now forced to ‘fall in line'.
On paper when the government states that around 90 per cent of the population is enrolled with Aadhaar, it looks to be very accomplishing. On the ground, a different picture emerges and a lot of data registered is either found to be erroneous or needs an update. Errors include wrong addresses being reflected and incomplete date of birth among others. There are thousands of cases where mobile numbers were not entered while in some the contact numbers have changed.
The six facilitation centres which were initially set up across the State failed to meet the growing requirement of people and they were forced to bear with the agony of waiting for around two months to get an appointment. Private centres which later started to give service could not help much since there were severe limitations, with most of them handling only around 50 cases daily. With the introduction of post offices now as facilitation centres, the situation is not likely to change much, given the fact that there are not too many post offices across the state and also because these offices are not known to be people-friendly. Citizens will still have to be in queue and go through the cumbersome process, wasting precious time.
Irrespective of age or gender, individual presence is a must for Aadhaar processes, since biometric scans form part of the documentation. This means that people of all ages, including people in their 80s and 90s will have to go through this ordeal. The case in this very senior citizen group is even more excruciating because of issues with their fingerprints.
Governments should be sensitive towards the plight of the people and work towards bringing convenience to the people. A government which speaks about Goenkarponn cannot wash its hands off by saying it's controlled from Delhi. Opening facilitation centres at every panchayat and municipality would be of more service. At every election, candidates and their workers are seen going door to door asking for votes and promising a change and a better way of life to the electorate. Government officials are seen moving door-to-door facilitating paper work for election card formalities, which includes even delivering the card at the doorstep. Why do they remain silent spectators when the very people who voted for them are being exposed to such a painful exercise?
