Spotlight on identity

I didn’t feel the necessity for an Aadhaar card till now since I have my passport, driving licence and voter ID card bearing the same details. But now I think I will have to get one due to it being made mandatory for driving licence renewal and a host of other purposes,” says Ashok Agarwal, a businessman.

With the Aadhaar card being made compulsory for various government welfare schemes like the Midday Meal Scheme and booking of railway tickets, many like Ashok are gearing up to get their card in place. It has also been made a must for filing income tax returns from July 1.

“The government is trying to make it compulsory for various databases, perhaps because most people possessing documents like the PAN card and voter ID card got them made almost 20 years back. And most of these documents have incorrect or incomplete information, especially like wrong date of birth or name misspelt,” adds Ashok.

He says that since the Aadhaar card involves a biometric scan, no one can duplicate or fake the details. He understands the importance of this card, which is the only reason the government is pushing people to get one.

However, Sherly Mathew, a professional, says that though she has made an attempt to enrol for the Aadhaar card, various issues like lack of valid documents (address proof being one of them) have posed a problem for her.

She says, “First of all, there are only limited tokens — around 30 — issued per day at enrolment centres. If you miss it one day, you will have to revisit the centre the
next day, which again is an uncertainity. Holding a regular job, it is difficult for me to take leave every other day. They must increase the number of tokens so that more people can enrol for it.”

“I was told that the proof of address for the enrolment has to have the permanent address, which has to be somewhere in Bengaluru. Since I don’t have one and my
passport also has a different address, I am in a fix now,” she laments.

So what can an individual do if similar issues arise? “There are 35 different categories of documents using which one can enrol for their Aadhaar card. Incase none of these documents are available, an individual can also take help of the ‘Introducers’ available at the enrolment centre. He or she is a known person authorised by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) or by a registrar, to introduce individuals with insufficient documentation for enrolment,” says a UIDAI official.

He says that there are many benefits attached to the Aadhaar card. “The Aadhaar card makes it one step easier for people to avail certain government benefits. It is now an essential and verifiable document for identity,” adds the official.