TNN | Feb 13, 2015, 05.58AM IST
KOLHAPUR: Non-payment of fees by the Union government to Aadhaar card agencies has slowed down the card registration process. With the proceedings going slow, the state machinery is facing the heat from the agencies.
State food & civil supply minister Girish Bapat said, "It is unfortunate that payments are stuck, but the issue lies with the Centre. Union government.
I am told that the amount runs in crores, but the exact figures can be obtained from New Delhi only. Considering the Going by the load of the entire country's data generation, it will take some time for the figures to be available."
"I have communicated and requested the Centre Union government for releasing the payment of the machine operators," he added.
The government introduced Aadhar card in 2012 and now, it has become an important document for several transactions as well as for supporting the identity of the person. Sources in the department said the dues are pending from February 2014 and it is still not known what how much amount is to be paid by the Centre Union government
to the machine operators. The machine records the retina, fingerprints, data from supporting documents like ration card and birth certificate, which is helpful for identifying the person. The unique identification number is a sole gateway for connecting a person's bank account with the Centre's Union government's payment making system. Accordingly, the agencies were formed and machines were set up.
The Union government has fixed a commission rate of Rs 10.34 per card, but the agencies are still waiting for their payment. An agency operator said on the condition of anonymity, "The Centre Union government officials assured us of making payments from time to time. So we opened counters at several locations to record the data. But the payments were made only at the beginning of the scheme and but
were later stopped completely. There were only assurances (from the government), but the money never came.to our accounts
"Officials in the food and supply department said the agencies have now frozen the data they have with them. They have It has created a problem as the agencies have refused to upload the data on to the server of national informatics centre. So people are unable to get their Aadhar cards. Also, several On the other hand, the agencies at various centres have started charging each person Rs 20-50 for issuing the cards. Accordingly, action has been taken against them, but people have ended up paying these agencies.
The state government has already set up Maha e-service centres, where the citizens can pay their electricity bills and various taxes to the government. Same centres are being used for issuing Aadhar cards as well.