UIDAI attributes delay to verification process
Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Jan 8: Unprecedented delay in the issuance of Aadhaar document and processing of corrections is becoming a source of frustration for the applicants across Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory.
This significant slowdown for months together has left hundreds of people in a lurch, hampering their access to essential services and Government schemes as Aadhaar Card is a crucial document for identity verification in India.
Applicants seeking new Aadhaar cards or corrections to existing ones, such as updates to addresses, names, or phone numbers, report waiting periods extending up to six months whereas these services were previously processed within 2-3 weeks.
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Aggrieved people have expressed concern about how these delays are affecting their daily lives. Without a valid Aadhaar card, these individuals are unable to apply for Government welfare schemes, open new bank accounts or link Aadhaar to existing ones, a mandatory requirement for many financial transactions, obtaining passports, which require Aadhaar as proof of identity, enroll children in schools where Aadhaar is increasingly requested for admission and access healthcare benefits under Ayushman Bharat.
According to Varun, a resident of Channi Himmat in Jammu, he had applied for correction in Aadhaar of his minor daughter three months back, but there has been no response since then. “I have been waiting for the last three months to get the Aadhaar corrected. Without Aadhaar, I cannot apply for admission of my daughter in school and on the other hand, there has been no response from UIDAI despite repeated requests,” he added.
Similarly, Vikrant Sharma was worried about his son’s school admission as the Aadhaar card update for the child’s name was still pending. “It’s unfair that such an important document takes so long to process,” he said.
Admitting the delay, a spokesperson for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) told the Excelsior that in-depth verification process was taking time, particularly in the case of birth certificates. “Utmost care is being maintained in scrutiny of the documents for avoiding any error and this is the reason that extra time is taken in issuance of the new Aadhaar Cards or processing of corrections,” spokesperson added and ruled out technical glitch or any other reason behind the delay.
However, sources alleged that server capacity, increased demand for corrections due to errors in initial enrolments, inadequate infrastructure and limited training of personnel were also the contributing factors behind delay.
Even as localized camps are also being organized by volunteers to address the backlog, these measures are not showing tangible results as delay in scrutiny of documents is on part of the UIDAI headquarters in New Delhi.
People and social activists have appealed the Government to treat the situation as a priority and issue necessary directions. “The Aadhaar delay is not just an administrative failure but also a denial of basic rights to millions of Indians,” they said and urged UIDAI to improve grievance redressal mechanism to ensure timely updates on application statuses.
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