Citizens wait endlessly at Aadhaar centres for updates

Fathima Bi waits in a hidden verandah in LB Nagar for her turn to update her Aadhaar. At Musarambagh, queues form early for daily tokens. Online slot booking is available, but few opt for it. Unusual crowds are due to Dec 14 deadline & mandatory eKYC for central schemes. 400 Aadhaar centres remain in Telangana, down from 800+. SC held Aadhaar can be used for welfare schemes, leading to linkage for PDS & other schemes.

Fathima Bi, in her 50s, sat for a whole day in the dingy verandah in LB Nagar, which was totally hidden behind the a Navaratri pandal. Unless for the banner outside, one would easily miss this Aadhaar enrolment centre being run in a ramshackle building.

“I sat since 12 noon, yet my turn has not come,” she said, pointing towards an inner room where two persons sat in front of the computer, struggling with the biometrics of the applicants.

Ms. Fathima Bi came here taking off from her work as domestic help, in order to update her Aadhaar with her latest phone number. She was among the several applicants patiently waiting there for their turn.

“We issue tokens for an hour in the morning, and give time slots for the applicants. Still, it gets crowded very fast,” says the operator unwilling to go on record.

At Musarambagh, two persons sit outside the Aadhaar Seva Kendra inside the Metro Rail station, to check for Aadhaar card and the supporting documents before issuing the application form, and allowing entry inside. The security guard informs that mornings see serpentine queues for daily tokens, which are issued only between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Online slot booking is available, but few opt for it.

“At our centre, people wait since 5 a.m., though we open at 9 a.m. Many of them lose their wages for the day in order to get the Aadhar updated,” said P. Manish Kumar, an operator at Ibrahimpatnam.

Unusual crowds at the Aadhaar centres is a relatively recent phenomenon, partially owing to the misconception that December 14 is the deadline to update the credentials.