Many Aadhaar enrollment centres non-functional in Assam

Many Aadhaar Enrollment Centres have been non-functional at several places across the state since September. As a result, the public has been facing lots of harassment since they had to return from the closed centers.

Following complaints from the public about the slow pace of progress related to Aadhaar enrollment in certain districts, the General Administration Department (GAD) of the Government of Assam -- the State Registrar for Aadhaar enrollment -- has directed the six firms/vendors that were allotted work for Aadhaar enrollment to expedite their work. The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the GAD with the firms at Janata Bhawan here on Wednesday.

Aadhaar number is a 12-digit random number issued by the UIDAI (“Authority”) to the residents of India after satisfying the verification process laid down by the Authority. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UDAI), which functions under the NITI Aayog, is responsible for managing Aadhaar numbers and Aadhaar identification cards.

Any individual, irrespective of age and gender, who is a resident of India, may voluntarily enroll to obtain Aadhaar number. A person willing to enroll has to provide minimal demographic and biometric information during the enrolment process which is totally free of cost. An individual needs to enroll for Aadhaar only once and after de-duplication, only one Aadhaar shall be generated, as the uniqueness is achieved through the process of demographic and biometric de-duplication.

Talking to The Sentinel, GAD Commissioner M Angamuthu said, “The process of Aadhaar enrollment has been found to be much below expectation in 11 districts. These are Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Cachar, Dibrugarh, Hailakandi, Karimganj, Kamrup (Metro), Kamrup, Nalbari, Sibsagar, and Tinsukia.”

The Commissioner further pointed out, “Messrs Balaji Construction Limited and Messrs Pariza Enterprises were warned for their poor performance. They have been directed to improve their Aadhaar enrollment processes in this month. Both the firms have also been warned that if they fail to comply with the government’s direction, necessary action including termination of the contract will be initiated.”

It was in the middle part of 2018 that GAD commenced the Aadhaar enrollment process in Assam. After floating tenders, the department allotted the work order to six firms or vendors. Altogether 1,241 Aadhaar Enrollment Centres were also set up in the premises of government offices across the State.

However, the Aadhaar enrollment process in the State had to be put on hold from February 15, 2019 when the hearing of claims and objections of NRC Applicants started. With approval from the Supreme Court of India, the Home and Political Department of the State collected biometric data of those who attended NRC hearing of claims and objections. The order was issued as the Aadhaar Enrollment Centres had to be involved for biometric collection of people who had applied for Claims and Objection in the NRC (National Register of Citizens) update work. Following the completion of this phase, GAD issued an order on August 17, 2019, whereby the Aadhaar enrollment process was resumed in Assam. As per this notification, the Aadhaar enrollment work resumed in Assam from September 1, 2019. The GAD also asked all the deputy commissioners and the firms/vendors to resume the regular Aadhaar enrollment work from that date.

Despite the GAD direction, however, many of the Aadhaar Enrollment Centres have remained non-functional till date. Sources informed that some of the firms reportedly stopped the Aadhaar enrollment process as they had not received their dues from the Home and Political Department for the biometric collection work of NRC. On the other hand, GAD sources told The Sentinel that the dues for the NRC biometric collection work were paid by the Home and Political Department to the firms last week.

Against this backdrop, it remains to be seen how fast the firms/vendors would resume their original work of Aadhaar enrollment.

Also Read: Is your name on the final list of the NRC Assam ? Read here to find out