Christian NGOs urge UIDAI to accept marriage certificate for Aadhaar correction

MUMBAI: Two Christian-led NGOs have urged the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) to accept the marriage certificate issued by the Catholic Church for correcting an individual's name in his Aadhaar card.
They have cited examples of the Maharashtra government and passport authorities accepting this certificate as valid proof.
The Bombay high court has sought the Centre's response in one such matter whose hearing was held last week.
The Watchdog Foundation led by Godfrey Pimenta and Nicholas Almeida, and the Bombay East Indian Association whose president is Tulip Miranda, have written to the UIDAI, saying, "This refers to the writ petition filed by Vasai resident Maruissa Almeida regarding non-acceptance of marriage certificate issued by the Roman Catholic Church for the purpose of name change in Aadhar."
"The government of Maharashtra through a 2012 GR has accepted the validity of the marriage certificate issued by the Church for considering a request to grant OBC caste certificate. The Regional Passport Office under the Union Ministry of External Affairs considers the joint affidavit of both husband and wife for name change in passport which may incidentally mention the fact of church marriage," the letter said.
The NGOs question that if these documents can be considered for issuing an OBC caste certificate and passport, then why is the UIDAI not accepting the Church marriage certificate as valid proof for name correction.
"We demand that UIDAI take a progressive and pragmatic approach and accept the Church marriage certificate for correction of name in the Aadhaar card," they wrote.