BANGALORE, October 16, 2013
DEEPA KURUP
According to a senior UIDAI official, the first level of check is at the enrolment centre, where the operator asks the resident to view the data entered and suggest corrections.— File photo V. Sreenivasa Murthy
People say attempts to correct errors online or by writing to UIDAI futile
Sarita (name changed), a 33-year-old resident of Koramangala, says she has been “extremely unlucky” with the Aadhaar enrolment process.
First, a tout took Rs. 300 from her and told her he would get her an Aadhaar appointment. Then, when the tout disappeared with her money, she applied at the local Aadhaar centre only to get a card with her age wrong and name misspelt.
Attempts to inquire with the enrolment centre had her running around in circles.
“Then, a few months ago they (enrolment centre personnel) said I could do this process online. The surprising part was that they said they could not help me with that!” she says.
Ms. Sarita says that she wasn’t able to go through the online process (which at the first look doesn’t appear too complicated) and that the system did not generate a one-time password.
Corrections tedious
Residents from across Bangalore, whom The Hindu spoke with, said the Aadhaar details were prone to errors, and worse, the system used to make corrections was largely inaccessible.
This is despite the fact that in recent months, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has made attempts to remedy the system by setting up an online and offline procedure for corrections and updating.
“Yes, there is a provision to correct data online, but as a senior citizen I found it difficult to get through the process. The other option, which is sending it by post to the UIDAI office, has not yielded any response.
I’m yet to get even a simple acknowledgement,” says a septuagenarian resident of Jal Vayu Vihar.
In his case, he registered at the Chinnaswamy stadium enrolment centre. He says that while the data entered was error-free, the address was all jumbled up when they received the Aadhaar document.
“The flat number was affixed to the street name, which completely changes the address,” he points out. “What is funny is that those who enrolled with me did not have these errors,” he says, adding that at least 10 residents in his colony had got jumbled addresses.
Confusion
The confusion around whether or not the Aadhaar card was mandatory was not helping the situation.
“I did not complain earlier because we were told that the card was not mandatory. But now, we are being told that for getting LPG subsidy, we need to link the Aadhaar number to our bank accounts. Given it is being made mandatory for such crucial services, they must be doubly careful.”
SC order
Despite a Supreme Court order that said the Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for any services or subsidies, oil and gas companies are yet to issue a fresh directive on the matter.
Another resident in the same colony got the Aadhaar document delivered to his address, but the document had his address printed as Mathikere. Oddly, the postal department got the address right and delivered it to the right address. A complaint was made in June and an acknowledgement for it was received three months later. But, the updated document is yet to reach him.
Options available
When contacted, a senior UIDAI official conceded that the updating process could do with some speeding up. The official explained that the authority was well aware of the problem and gave citizens two options to get the data corrected: online (by entering your Aadhaar number and getting a one-time password for verification) and offline (by downloading an application and posting it to the UIDAI regional office). Further, the UIDAI is also planning to start centres that will exclusively deal with updating citizen data.
“But, the first level of check is at the enrolment centre, where the operator asks the resident to view the data entered and suggest corrections. After this also, the resident can make corrections within 96 hours of enrolment. When so many opportunities are given, residents should be careful at this stage so no wrong data is entered.”