Christin Mathew Philip, TNN Dec 17, 2013, 05.05PM IST
CHENNAI: Poor arrangement and lack of information are playing spoilsport for the census department's enrolment drive under the National Population Register (NPR) scheme for Aadhaar.
Demographic details and biometric parameters — fingerprints and iris images — are collected by a private contractor. Records say 52% of the residents in Chennai have been enrolled under the NPR so far. The recent Supreme Court ruling that Aadhaar should not be linked to domestic gas subsidy has bought a relief to the residents.
The department had earlier said permanent enrolment centers would be opened starting in October, but not single centre has been opened so far.
M R V Krishna Rao, joint director of census operations, has said they can open permanent centres only after crossing 70% enrolment. "We are now planning to open permanent centers in each zone by January."
In Velachery, enrolment drive for Aadhaar has come to a standstill after a private operator engaged to collect biometric data from residents stopped work over non-payment of salary.
P Krishnamoorthy of Nethaji Colony Residents Welfare Association in Velachery said that the census department had failed to inform the residents about the enrolment camps. "We were waiting to enroll under the National Population Register to get an Aadhaar number. The private contractor had also left because of the non-payment of salary from the department. So we don't know how to register under the NPR and to get the Aadhaar number."
Rao said, "Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) had given the subcontract to a private firm, Swisstec, to collect biometric data in Velachery. But Swisstec had failed to pay salaries to their workers. We had also informed BEL to appoint a new firm to continue to the enrolment"
Many residents complained that Aadhaar enrolment of census department in the city was ill-equipped and a failure. "The census department has made Aadhaar enrolment more cumbersome to the public because of the inadequate awareness. There was no information about Tamil Nadu on the websites of NPR and UID. The contact number which was provided by the census department was rarely attended by the officials concerned. Even senior citizens and disabled people were forced to stand on long queues at the enrolment centres from early morning" said V S Jayaraman, a resident of T Nagar.
The census department had recently conducted a door-to-door enrolment drive for residents associations in some areas in the city. Krishnamoorthy said they had collected signatures from nearly 300 members and sent them to the census department to conduct an enrolment camp for them. "But there is no response from the census department so far".
However, the joint director of census operations said, "We have received more than 2,000 applications from various residents associations across the city. So it is difficult to conduct such camps to each residents association."
Sources said shortage of mobile vans caused a setback to the census department's plan to conduct doorstep enrolments. The lone van at its disposal is allegedly being used for VIPs and their relatives. An official in the census department confirmed to TOI that they had conducted a door-to-door enrolment drive in several VIP households.
Several other cities have better facilities to help the elderly and the disabled for Aadhaar enrolment. In Mumbai, mobile vans are provided to cover old age homes and homes for the disabled, while Bangalore has exclusive centres for such people.
