Vijay Pinjarkar, TNN | Apr 5, 2013, 03.26 AM IST
NAGPUR: Aadhaar cards given by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will henceforth have date of birth (DoB) too. Till now, more than Rs 2,000 crore have been spent on UID scheme and over 23 crore residents have enrolled for these cards.
However, so far the cards did not bear date of birth because of which they were not acceptable as document for age proof. On December 3 last, TOI had reported the matter. Although Aadhaar card showed age of a person, date of birth was missing. This card is not acceptable to banks and mobile phone companies and other service providers. Additional documents like electricity bill for address proof and PAN card for ID proof are demanded.
"All assurances by government created a perception that Aadhaar will eliminate requirement of multiple documents for availing various benefits and limitations of other cards will be done away with. However, this is not happening," says Avinash Prabhune, an RTI activist. "My parents, both senior citizens, had to suffer as they were asked to produce additional papers to accomplish banking work. The bank officials did not accept Aadhaar as the sole paper for address or ID proof as it did not bear date of birth. I decided to fight for it and sought to know from UIDAI," Prabhune adds.
In reply to series of queries from Prabhune, on March 22, Shirish Kumar, assistant director & chief public information officer (CPIO) with UIDAI, stated that incorporating date of birth was under consideration. "It has been decided that henceforth, DoB will be mentioned on Aadhaar card. We have started the process," he said.
"I followed up the issue since December. After issuing over 23 crore Aadhar cards, now the government has realized it failed to incorporate something as basic as DoB on the cards. It was a big flaw," says Prabhune.