By Lekshmi Mohan - KOCHI 17th March 2013 10:58 AM
A few months back, Dhanesh Radhakrishnan, a native of Thiruvananthapuram applied for a driving license. But his application was rejected for want of proof of age.
The document he provided to prove his age was nothing but the much-hyped ‘Aadhaar Card’ (Unique Identification Card).
Non-inclusion of date of birth in the Aadhaar card is turning into a major head ache for card holders, as year of birth is printed instead of date of birth.
Due to this, card holders have to produce additional documents to prove age. The problem is that a government-issued card is not accepted at government offices, putting the validity of the card into question.
“The card was of little help when it came to accessing banking services. Though I provided the Aadhaar card, authorities are asking for additional documents,” he said.
Aadhaar card is hyped as an all-purpose document. At a time when Aadhar is turning into a key document for identification purposes, the lack of birth details in it is likely to put citizens in trouble.
Amritha Premkumar,a techie from Kozhikode, pointed out that she had faced a similar situation when she had to apply for her driving license. “It was rejected by the authorities, as Aadhaar is not deemed as a valid age proof,” she said.
Kannan, State Coordinator, Aadhaar maintains that date of birth is not included due to security reasons.
“There is nothing to worry, as all the necessary information can be accessed online. Lack of awareness among the public that anyone can verify the date of birth and other essential details by entering the card number online is defeating the purpose of the card,” he said.