By Pradeep Kumar
Published: 03rd December 2014 06:03 AM
CHENNAI: Trust Chennai Corporation officials to make a mess out of even the simplest of tasks. Expecting them to smoothen the process of creating Aadhaar card is like asking for too much.
At Zone 13, officials told Express that they have been turning back applicants seeking Aadhaar forms because the Central government has decided to issue new forms in place of ones brought out by the previous UPA government. This reporter’s jaw dropped because the Centre had issued no such order. In fact, officials at the Directorate of Census Operations said that the Centre had advised them to carry on with disbursal of old forms. Apparently, there is a communication gap.
Meanwhile, at Zone 10, after disbursed Aadhaar application forms, officials were seen asking people to return the filled-up forms only after a week - not immediately. A few who promptly filled up their forms and tried to return them were shooed away; and those who insisted were given an earful.
However, a Census official said that an applicant is in fact supposed to fill up the form immediately and submit at the centre. “As we process some 300-400 applications in a day, there will be some delays in entering the details onto the database. But, that is not on the zonal officials. The applicant is not supposed to leave the centre with these forms,” an official said. Zone officials at Tondiarpet explained it best: “Suppose a person living in Besant Nagar moves to Tondiarpet, and this person had earlier applied for biometrics at Adyar. But upon moving, he/she has chosen to refill the Aadhaar form thinking that they will have to reapply for the change of address to be reflected. That shouldn’t be done.”
However, Census officials said there was no harm in reapplying. “We have not centralised the database collection. Every region and zone has its own separate tree of data, which will not interfere if the person reapplies at a different location. If he/she has not given their biometric data at say, Adyar, then it will reflect as absent. The person can very well apply from the relocated place and then give their biometrics,” the official said.