Vimal Chander Joshi, TNN | Dec 18, 2014, 03.49AM IST
GURGAON: Illegal Aadhaar centres have started sprouting in Gurgaon to capitalize on the enrolment rush after the administration's decision to link all government services and subsidies to the unique identity numbers from January 1. For a payment of Rs 150, one can fill up an Aadhar form and for Rs 300, even a correction can be incorporated at an illegally run Aadhar enrolment centre near Badshapur market, barely 200 metres from the state highway at Sohna.
When this TOI correspondent went to the centre, which is being operated from a shop near the residence of a local councillor, there were 12 people waiting to apply for an Aadhar card. A certificate near the main entrance of the shop greets a visitor up with a stamp of approval, purportedly from the district administration.
The centre is also fully equipped with biometric finger print scanners, eye scanners and web cams, which are used to prepare the citizen's database, making it virtually indistinguishable from a real Aadhaar centre.
But make no mistake; this is not an official agency. When TOI checked with a senior district administration official, he said there are only five permanent centres in the five blocks of Gurgaon, Manesar, Farrukhnagar, Sohna and Pataudi. He said that the administration has contracted five agencies to collect the information for free on behalf of the administration.
"If anyone is charging money anywhere, it is being done illegally," said a district administration spokesperson. But that has not stopped people from taking a shortcut to get the Aadhaar card. Anuj, who had applied for an Aadhaar card at the Badshahpur centre last week, said he has paid another Rs 300 this week to get a correction made, but was not given a receipt. "I have come here twice but have not been unable to get the correction incorporated," he said.
Raman Pant (name changed) who works with a government department in Badshahpur said people are ready to pay for a free government service only because they want to evade long queues at e-disha centre in mini secretariat. "This place is around 7-8km away from the district headquarters, so some residents avoid travelling the distance. Also, the e-disha centre is much more crowded than this shop," said Pant.