Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, April 07, 2012
Faced with complaints of long delays in getting the Aadhaar number, the Nandan Nilekani-led Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is speeding up the delivery process using the mobile phone.
UIDAI has successfully tested a new application which allows sending Aadhaar numbers through a short message service (sms).Complaints have been piling up over the delay in getting the Aadhaar number. JR Gupta of Conferderation of Senior Citizens Association of India said that people were not receiving Aadhaar numbers even eight months after enrollment.
HT had also received a large number of complaints from its readers regarding delay in getting Aadhaar numbers. Of the 16 crore Aadhaar numbers generated only 9.5 crore have been dispatched. The UIDAI plans to dispatch all Aadhaar letters by June end.
Admitting to the delay, a senior UIDAI official said the mobile based application will help in faster delivery of Aadhaar numbers. “Even if the letter takes time, the person will have an Aadhaar number for availing government services,” the official, who was not willing to be quoted, said.
The UIDAI has tied up with the Central Government’s Department of Information Technology to have a lease line for delivering Aadhaar numbers on mobile. But, only those who had given their mobile numbers at the time of enrollment can avail this service.
The UIDAI during review of its first phase of enrollment of 20 crore people had found that only 27 % of the applicants had given their mobile numbers. The number is low considering that around 40 % of Indians have mobile.
“Those who don’t have mobile phones can give number of any of their family member,” an official said.
“We will also create awareness about benefits of providing mobile number during application”.
According to UIDAI officials, provide mobile number will have another benefit. It will help in authentication of a person seeking a public service such as opening a bank account or applying for a ration card.
“In case the biometric authentication does not work, the additional details as mobile number can help in authenticating identification,” the official said.
To overcome the problem of one changing his or her mobile number, the UIDAI has decided that the mobile numbers can be updated at the permanent enrollment centres to be set up in the second phase starting from end of April.