If you have successfully got your Aadhaar card, pat yourselves on your back for it is a great achievement. The entire city seems to be boggled by the haphazard process. So much so that public charitable trusts such as Citizen’s Guardians' have submitted a petition to The Directorate of Census, Tamil Nadu, Ministry of Home Affairs, regarding the improper planning in distribution of the Aadhaar card.
While appreciating the move initiated by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the trust has pinpointed certain loopholes in issuing National Population Register (NPR) forms to members of the public not enumerated in Census 2011.
V. Ravichandran, founder-chairman, Citizens’ Guardians’, says, “The responsibility of issuing Aadhaar card was entrusted to the Chennai Corporation. But till date, the Zonal offices of the Corporation have not furnished any details regarding the process of obtaining the card.”
“Utter confusion prevails over the procedure. There is no systematic planning and execution. We don’t know when or where the camps will be conducted” M. Kumar, a resident of Vadapalani said.
The Census Department has not done a proper enumeration in 2011. Most citizens do not have the acknowledgement slips, they added.
The National Population Register and UIDAI should press the Chennai Corporation to make an announcement on which date, and for which wards the process for enrolment of Aadhaar would be conducted to avoid over-crowding, Mr. Ravichandran said.
M.R.V. Krishna Rao, joint director, Directorate of Census Operations, said, “In Tamil Nadu, an Aadhaar number can be obtained by registering under NPR. It is the first step in the preparation of National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC). It is compulsory to register under NPR.”
He explains the process. Persons, who are residing in a particular place for more than six months and a person, going to reside in a particular place, for over six months should register under NPR. A Census acknowledgement slip given to each household should be furnished at the time of enrolment camps.
As part of the biometric enrolment process, EPIC number, Passport number and Ration Card Number should be filled in the intimation slip (KYR + Form) for additional data fields.
The Know Your Residence + Form, containing details of the camp date, venue and time, will be distributed to the households covered during the house-listing operations before the commencement of camps.
If a household has not been covered during the Census or the household members have settled in the area after Census, a new NPR form will be given at the camp to be filled up, and should be submitted to the government officials at the camp.
People who have shifted residences after being enumerated in the Census can get enrolled in the area where they were enumerated by showing their NPR acknowledgement slip.
Residents who have missed the first phase can get enrolled in the second. If they miss the second phase, a camp will be held at the zonal office. From October, permanent NPR centres at the Zonal offices, Chennai Corporation and Chennai District Collector Office would be set up.
