Delay alleged in issuing Aadhaar cards

Parents and children waiting at a centre to get Aadhaar card at the Collectorate in the city.

A large number of people visiting the e-service centres on the Collectorate premises here to apply for Aadhaar cards have alleged inordinate delay in the application process resulting in day-long wait and multiple visits.

With the Aadhaar enrolment becoming increasingly mandatory, particularly to get provisions from fair price shops, hundreds of people throng these centres daily. However, a majority of them alleges that the process has been made unnecessarily tedious, mainly due to improper communication from the employees at the centre.

For instance, a large number of parents along with their children had to wait since Monday morning till late in the afternoon in one of the centres, which remained closed without any reason.

“This is where we were asked to come to apply for Aadhaar for children above five years of age. At another centre, they said they would distribute only a fixed number of applications and that quota was already over,” said a woman from Tallakulam, who did not want to reveal her identity.

“No one is explaining why the centre is closed and when it will open,” she added.

Many parents said that their children had to avoid school for a day to apply for Aadhaar card since it had become mandatory with even schools insisting on it. They alleged that even at fair price shops if the children’s Aadhaar was not linked, the provisions were being cut proportionately.

When contacted, a senior official from the district administration acknowledged that there were some issues in centres operated by Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited and assured to take immediate action.