MiD DAY takes a look at how one of the most exhaustive and ambitious national projects is progressing, as some citizens say they do not even know what a UID card is or does
MiD DAY takes a look at how one of the most exhaustive and ambitious national projects is progressing, as some citizens say they do not even know what a UID card is or does
As the procedure for enrolling for a Unique Identification (UID) Card under the Centre's monumental Aadhar project kicked off in January earlier this year, citizens have mixed reactions to the initiative.
While some citizens find it difficult to go through the procedure not many officials to help them out, no one to explain the details others are amused, appreciative and even excited about the 'one card that will replace them all'.
Still others are either ignorant or uninterested, and for no fault of their own, they say. The government hasn't taken many pains to tell people what it is, or made available a helpline for citizens. A few say they do not understand the forms. Given the scale of the project, a wide spectrum of reactions is expected.
A MiD DAY team went around the city to find out how the filling of UID forms is coming along. We found that at most municipal schools, forms have not reached out to a lot of residents, but at other places, the process is going on quite smoothly. In fact, the project has even spawned some inadvertent sources of livelihood, as you will see.
The form-filler
In Khar, the municipal schools wore a deserted look with a few residents waiting outside to get their form filled by a person who charges Rs 10 for a form. People do not seem to have an idea of how to fill the form.
A BMC official present there said, "People do have a problem but others who know assist them."
But a resident of Khar, Philomena Moolya (48), said, "Being a catholic, I can't really understand this form which is in Marathi.
I have filled up the first page, which has questions in English, but not the second. It's because of this language problem that I haven't submitted the forms for the last 15-20 days. Also, I am apprehensive about giving out my bank details."
Another such hassled resident was Kranti Dodiya (36). "There's a man here who fills up the forms for Rs10. However, he isn't here today. So I have been waiting here for him since morning to get my form filled as I don't understand Marathi," she said.
In SoBo
The Marathi Municipal School in Agripada is crowded from morning to evening, and busy issuing UID forms and completing verification procedures.
"Generally, people are called for verification a month after they have filled the form. We are trying to hasten the process.
Distribution of forms takes place throughout the day. The verification requires an entire day per person," said Aatish (22), in-charge of UID. Managing the crowd is a difficulty at all UID centres.
"It is getting difficult for us to manage the crowd. We have spoken to authorities to grant us proper space so the work gets done faster.
Once the UID card becomes compulsory, it can be used during school admission, passport verification and while opening a bank account. If everyone has one of these, administrative work will be easier," he added.
Other citizens appreciate the novelty of he idea. "It is like India's green card," said Naeem Abdul Gani (26), supervisor, Mazgoan centre.
Sundry problems
The three UID centres in Mulund East seemed to run without a glitch at municipal schools.u00a0 "We get around 300 form submissions a day.
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We are a team of seven people here and manage things pretty well. However, we face problems when people from lower income groups don't have documents. We guide them. Local MLA's also help them out. Also,u00a0 some people are reluctant to give their bank statements," said Vishal Malujkar, supervisor at PK Road School.
The idea of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is to create a unique identity for every citizen using a similar process.
As a result, the entire procedure is computerised. "The system is computerised. So if there is a defect, people have to wait. Otherwise, it gets done in a few minutes," said Sushma Pahelkl (20), enrollment operator.
Dongri Marathi Municipal School, the centre of UID activities, has about 500 people walking in for collecting forms.
"The procedure is smooth. Though the date of verification gets delayed by a day or two, everything is simple and clear," said Sushma Ramchandra of Dongri.
In Charkop, there are just four centres to distribute the forms and each has a limit of giving out 150 forms a day.
In Kandivli, the UID card distribution began on January 25. However, very few people are aware of it. In fact, most working class people have no clue what a UID card is.
Hemlata Shikhare, professor at a reputed city college, said, "We have heard about the UID card because we hear teachers going on rounds related to it.
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But nobody knows the details. There is no medium through which the message has been sent to the public no advertisements, no commercials.
In our area, even flyers were not distributed. How is one supposed to know the process and where the centres are? They are not even available online. Even if forms are made available on a Sunday, how would we know, without any intimidation?"
She added, "They should have more centres so that there are more options and more people can go and get the form filled."
Manju Dabral, a housewife said, "We only came to know about the UID card after we read the board outside the school a couple of days ago.
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I didn't even know that there is a centre close to where I live. Only when we saw a lot of people here and inquired of them did we come to know of it. Even now, I only know that the UID card will act as an identity proof. I don't know anything beyond that."
Weight of numbers
The UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) scheme, also called Aadhaar, has issued 5.3 million Aadhaar cards till April 29, 2011 and was started last year on September 29. In just 14 months the platform of this project was rolled out and today it has a real-time portal to provide daily updates on the enrollment data across states. Presently, about 100,000-200,000 enrollments are done everyday; however, Nilekani informed that it will reach one million per day by October this year and expect to touch 600 million by 2014.
The procedure
The process to get a UID number is as follows: A resident will have to fill up an application form in the enrolling agency, the BMC, and provide supporting documentation, fingerprints and a photo.
The enrolling agency will collect this information and send the data to the registrar who will pass this on to the UID database. The system will engage in a de-duplication exercise.
A UID number will be issued and sent to the person at their residence. The registrar as well as the UIDAI will have a copy of it.
The residents will receive a letter from the UID authority giving the person the UID number and the information of the person that was collected. If there are any inaccuracies in the information, the person can get them corrected.
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