Long wait for Aadhaar updates a pain for many

Pune: Citizens are rushing to Aadhaar enrolment centres as early as 6am these days to be among the first 20 in the queue by 10am when the facilities open for the day for linking their cards with various essential services.

With barely 25 days left for the linking to be done, Kavita Gaikwad, who is into her third trimester of pregnancy, was spotted waiting at the new collector's office to link her cellphone number with Aadhaar on Wednesday.

"I was told that the process will take around 10 minutes. But it took nearly two hours," she told TOI.

Neeraj Joshi , who works at a local auditorium, had to spend the entire day with his 11-year-old son for Aadhaar enrolment at the new collectorate office.

"I reached the centre at 9am with my son to get his Aadhaar enrolment for school. The work was finally done at 6.30pm," he said.

IT professional Smita Deogharia, who has been trying to get her Aadhaar card for the last three months, said, "Many centres are not operational and there are glitches in the machines. I would have to take leave for the work, as queues are long at the enrolment centres."

An IT professional had to return from the enrolment centre without the work being done as he had got only a half-a-day's leave from office. "The work was not done even after a nearly 5-hour wait," he said.

Businessman Venu Gopal said if the government is making something mandatory, it should have ensured adequate facilities instead of making citizens run from one place to another.

A citizen e-seva kendra official said the load was too much on them. "We have limited the time till afternoon, after which we start with other work. Besides, the government is not allocating any funds for this additional work."