Prajakta Chavan, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, June 14, 2
Mumbai, June 14, 2
Registrations for the Aadhaar Unique Identification (UID) card are going on across the city, but poor implementation of the enrolment process has started affecting the ambitious project. Mumbaiites are being forced to take leave from work and stand in queue for hours on end to submit the enrolment form or the number and the card.
After visiting three registration centres across the city, Hindustan Times found that people’s complaints were not baseless and that authorities need to sort out infrastructure and manpower issues urgently so citizens don’t get discouraged from enroling themselves.
“They are making us come again and again even to collect the form. They don’t have a notice board displaying instructions and different operators give different information when we visit the centre. We don’t know whom to complain to, they should at least set up a helpline,” said Bandra resident Teresa Trinidada (78). “There should also be a separate queue for senior citizens and there should be some seating arrangement.”
The situation was worse at the Chembur Municipal School, where people were made to wait for hours. “There is no system at all, they should have occupied more space. Different people should be designated for distributing, verifying and collecting the forms. Here, one person is doing all the work. It is a perfect example of poor administration,” said Juliet Netto, resident of Shankar Colony, Chembur.
The civic body is the project’s implementing agency. However, Manisha Mhaiskar, additional municipal commissioner, chose not to comment. “The UID enrolment is not entirely administered by the corporation. We are just providing the logistical support such as classrooms. The manpower and machinery are from the four enrolment agencies appointed by the state government,” a senior civic official said, requesting anonymity.
AB Pandey, the officer in charge of the UID project in Maharashtra, was not available for comment. Gurudutt Ray, assistant director general, UID, said he would be able to answer to HT’s queries two days later.
Terasoftware, Wipro, Wep Solutions and Karvy Data Management Services are the four enrolment agencies appointed to conduct the exercise. They get paid around Rs 24 for every enrolment data. “We have given instructions to our staff that they have to manage the process with limited resources. This programme is not for a short duration so limited manpower and machinery are sufficient,” said Augustus Ananth, project manager of Wep Solutions.
“They are making us come again and again even to collect the form. They don’t have a notice board displaying instructions and different operators give different information when we visit the centre. We don’t know whom to complain to, they should at least set up a helpline,” said Bandra resident Teresa Trinidada (78). “There should also be a separate queue for senior citizens and there should be some seating arrangement.”
The situation was worse at the Chembur Municipal School, where people were made to wait for hours. “There is no system at all, they should have occupied more space. Different people should be designated for distributing, verifying and collecting the forms. Here, one person is doing all the work. It is a perfect example of poor administration,” said Juliet Netto, resident of Shankar Colony, Chembur.
The civic body is the project’s implementing agency. However, Manisha Mhaiskar, additional municipal commissioner, chose not to comment. “The UID enrolment is not entirely administered by the corporation. We are just providing the logistical support such as classrooms. The manpower and machinery are from the four enrolment agencies appointed by the state government,” a senior civic official said, requesting anonymity.
AB Pandey, the officer in charge of the UID project in Maharashtra, was not available for comment. Gurudutt Ray, assistant director general, UID, said he would be able to answer to HT’s queries two days later.
Terasoftware, Wipro, Wep Solutions and Karvy Data Management Services are the four enrolment agencies appointed to conduct the exercise. They get paid around Rs 24 for every enrolment data. “We have given instructions to our staff that they have to manage the process with limited resources. This programme is not for a short duration so limited manpower and machinery are sufficient,” said Augustus Ananth, project manager of Wep Solutions.