Mostly patients, NRIs among sufferers
Delay in activation of the Union Territory Government Portal and appointment of Nodal officer has put on hold enrolment of new Aadhar Card applicants in Jammu and Kashmir who are above 18 years of age.
In absence of their Aadhar Card and non-issuance of the same for the last more than one and half month, the adult applicants are unable to operate their bank accounts and perform other necessary tasks for which the Aadhar has been made a mandatory document for identification.
Facing acute trouble and running from pillar to post seeking redressal of their grievance on account of non-issuance of Aadhar Card with no response from the concerned offices, most of such applicants are the patients suffering prolonged illnesses and the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) from J&K, who could not move out earlier because of COVID pandemic for the last around three years.
Even as the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Unique Identification Authority of India, has issued a clear direction to keep on hold Aadhar enrolment requests from adults since October 13, 2022 till activation of the State Government Portal, the Union Territory administration has not taken required measures for the last more than one month.
As per the Office Memorandum (OM), issued in this regard by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the new Aadhar enrolment requests submitted by the adult residents shall be processed only after confirmation by the State Nodal Officer through State Government Portal.
“Till activation of the State Government Portal, the Aadhar enrolment requests from adults received so far and new requests being received shall be kept on hold at SEDA level,” read the official order.
The decision to develop State Government Portal and generate new Aadhar of adults after verification by the State Nodal Officer through the State Government Portal was taken in order to ensure proper monitoring of the Aadhar enrolment and avoiding any possible ramifications of fraudulent enrolment activities on national security.
In this regard, a formal communication was issued vide DO letter, dated 09-09-2022 from the Secretary MeitY to all the Chief Secretaries. UIDAI has also issued an Office Memorandum, dated 06-09-2022 detailing mechanism and protocol for creation of State Government Portal.
However, no initiative was taken by the J&K administration to activate a State Government Portal and appoint Nodal Office despite these official communications by UIDAI, which finally issued direction vide Office Memorandum, dated 13-10-2022, conveying that Aadhar number against new enrolment requests from residents in adult age group shall be generated only once the details are confirmed by the State Government Nodal Office through the State Government Portal.
Because of delay on part of the UT administration in appointing Nodal Officer and activating the Government Portal, a number of adult applicants who could not get their Aadhar Card generated earlier because of different reasons, are suffering and making rounds of the Enrolment Centres but of no use.
“I was in USA along with my family for the last two decades and returned home two months back. Even as Government of India has issued us OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) card, I am not able to operate my bank accounts and make some necessary transaction without my Aadhar Card, which is also not being issued for the last several days,” said Ramesh Singh Slathia, while displaying the receipt of his application for registration of Aadhar Card at a Jammu centre.
Same was the case with another NRI, namely Ajay Kumar from Mohalla Paharian in Jammu City, who arrived here from London after a gap of 10 years. After remaining failed to get his Aadhar Card generated for the last one month, he is now going back to UK tomorrow without furnishing some necessary tasks for which he had travelled home.
Further, there are some patients with prolonged illness, who could not reach the Enrolment Centres earlier for generation of Aadhar Card and now facing difficulty in completion of the formalities for which Aadhar is required as primary identification document.
