COVID-19 fears were set aside, and social distancing norms thrown to the wind, as hundreds of people thronged the Aadhaar Seva Kendra at Dwaraka Nagar in the city on Wednesday.
The rush of people to the centre was to get the e-KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure done for their Aadhaar cards, as there were reports going around that benefits under government schemes would be halted if the e-KYC was not done.
People were seen standing cheek by jowl in serpentine queues for hours, many with toddlers in their arms, to get their e-KYC done. An air of resentment towards the government officials was palpable, with the applicants questioning why steps were not taken to ease the rush despite a sharp rise in footfalls at the Aadhaar centre over the past few days.
People claimed that they were informed by the Sachivalayam volunteers that their ration cards would be cancelled and they would not receive any government welfare schemes including ration, if their e-KYC is not updated with Aadhaar before the end of this month. With the deadline round the corner, the Aadhaar centre began witnessing a heavy rush. Most of the people at the centre came for enrolment of e-KYC for their children or updating their details including biometrics. It may be recalled that the State government is providing Amma Vadi scheme to women who have schoolgoing children.
“We came yesterday, but left after seeing the huge crowd. Today, we came again in the morning and our serial number was over 600. There are no toilets here either. The children have become exhausted waiting in the queues for so long,” said Vishnu, a resident of Gajuwaka, who had come for e-KYC of his son.
People in the queue were critical of the government for instructing KYC updation amidst fears of an impending third wave of COVID-19, which many predict would mainly affect children.
“There are Sachivalayams at every Ward. The government boasts of providing over 500 services through the sachivalayam. Why is the government not taking any measures to provide KYC enrolment through the secretariats? This will avoid rush,” said N. Raghava, a resident of Gajuwaka who came to get the e-KYC done for his daughter.
People alleged that though the KYC can be done at post offices and banks, it is not being done as of now and they were asked to go to the main centre. Demanding an extension of the deadline, people asked the officials to increase the number of such centres.