In Mangalore, about18,000 people have enrolled for Aadhaar, the 12-digit unique identification (UID) number which the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is issuing, according to T.G. Naik, Superintendent of Post Offices, Mangalore Division of India Post.
Each day, in Mangalore, 450 to 500 people enrol for the Aadhaar card from eight post offices: Pandeshwar, Hampankatta, Kankanady, Kulshekar, Balmatta, Kodialbail, Ullal, and Bejai. He said: “We have improved the token system in the last one week to enrol 70 people per day”.
At Pandeshwar Post Office, on Tuesday afternoon, there were five or six people waiting in the enrolling queue.
Some people in the queue said that they had waited for long, while a few said that they had waited for more than three hours. Shameem, who had got a coupon in the morning and had returned at 3 p.m., said: “I have not had any problem.”
Documents
Surendra said that he had waited for four hours. A board should be put up at the post office stating what documents should be brought to enrol for “Aadhaar”. He called the post office before going there and the information was given as though a favour was being done. The tone in which the information had been given “was not at all OK,” he said.
Benedicta D'Souza and Indravathi said that they had come on Tuesday as it was a holiday for them. Ms. D'Souza said that she had got a token and been told to come at noon. Since she lived nearby, she went home and returned at the given time.
Ms. Indravathi said that she had been waiting since 10.30 a.m. till 2.15 p.m. She said there had been 10 to 15 people in the queue before her and there had been a problem with the computer. The person at the computer said she was forbidden from speaking to the press.
‘Additional work'
A post office employee said that people have to wait as there was no separate staff or counter to enrol people for Aadhaar.
“We do this in addition to our other work. It is on a rotation basis,” she said. Beginning at 9 a.m., they give 60 coupons. They reach that number by 12.30 p.m. and sometimes by 11 a.m., she said.
Siddappa Shivalingappa Mutnal, Senior Post Master, Mangalore Head Post Office, Pandeshwar, said that existing staff is used for the Aadhaar work and they clear 50 to 60 applications each day. They spend one to one and a half hours in the morning to give coupons to those who want to enrol for Aadhaar. Documents to be brought by the public were displayed on a banner at the entrance of the post office, Mr Mutnal said.
The collection of data for Aadhaar had been given to a private party, who were working out of select post offices. The documents (the application for Aadhaar and the records) were collected by the Department of Posts.
“They (People) have to wait …after we issue the token, they can come back at the given time,” said Mr. Naik. Enrolling for Aadhaar requires: the application form, proof of identity, proof of address and date of birth. Application forms are available in the above-mentioned post offices.
