Closure of Aadhaar seva kendras in big cities hits services in Karnataka

The downsizing of Aadhaar Seva Kendras (ASKs) at major cities of the state has caused inconvenience to the public, besides burdening staff at existing facilities.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) closed all six ASKs in Bengaluru, Mysuru and Hubballi-Dharwad on November 30. It plans to replace them with smaller centres.

To provide Aadhaar card services like corrections and updation, UIDAI had set up ASKs in six cities. The services were being provided by private parties.

While Bengaluru, Mysuru and Hubballi-Dharwad had two centres each, Mangaluru and Davangere had one centre each.

The tenders of the service providers expired and UIDAI shut down all eight centres on November 30.

In Hubballi, there was an ASK of 16 counters where around 300-400 people used to get their Aadhaar cards updated on a daily basis. During government announcements of new schemes, where the beneficiary is supposed to link Aadhaar cards, the Hubballi ASK used to get more people.

According to an officer from UIDAI, they had opened multi-counter ASKs in Bengaluru, Mysuru and Hubballi-Dharwad for the last six years.

As the tender of the service providers ended on November 30, they have called for fresh tenders and the bid winner will open new ASK centres on December 15.

“Apart from ASKs, Bengaluru-One/Karnataka-One, post offices and some banks are providing Aadhaar card-related services. There are even online facilities where people can get their date of birth and other details updated. Hence, it will not be difficult for people to get Aadhaar-related services,” he said.

The officer said they will open 21 smaller ASKs in Bengaluru, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Mysuru, Hubballi, Kalaburagi, Davangere, Mangaluru, Bagalkot, Raichur, Tumakuru, Ballari, Chitradurga, Bidar, Shivamogga, Koppal, Haveri, Hassan, Karwar, Yadgir and Kolar.

While Bengaluru will get 24 counters in the centre, Belagavi, Vijayapura and Mysuru will get eight counters in the centre, and other cities will get four counters each.

Hubballi ASK operations manager Lohit Muduyappanavar said they had operated the centre for the last six and a half years in Hubballi.

The Hubballi-Dharwad twin cities had two centres where 24 counters were located (16 in Hubballi and 8 in Dharwad).

After November 30, both centres closed and a four-counter centre will be established in Hubballi.

While a few earlier staff will secure jobs in the proposed centre, other staff have lost their jobs. A similar situation can be seen in other centres too.

Sources said Protean eGov Technologies and BLS International Services have been awarded separate contracts by UIDAI to establish and operate district-level ASKs across the country, including 21 in the state.

The agencies will be responsible for infrastructure setup and daily operations, with a transaction-based revenue model regulated by UIDAI.