Aadhaar enrolment affected in parts of Tamil Nadu as UIDAI server suffers 'glitch'

CHENNAI: Enrolment for Aadhaar numbers, mandatory almost everywhere now, has become difficult over the past week in the city and across the state due to a glitch in the server.
Seetharaman V, a resident of Anakaputhur, has been trying to get his child an Aadhaar number for KG admission, but the enrolment centre nearby is either closed or the agents there send him away saying the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) server is down. "This is the fourth time in the last two weeks that I have come here, but I have been asked to come two days later as the UIDAI server is apparently down," he said on Tuesday. Several peoople including senior citizens trying to make corrections or update their Aadhaar cards have also been affected.
Enrolments, corrections and updates are carried out by the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV (TACTV) and Tamil Nadu e-governance agency (TNeGA) centres. There are about 334 enrolment centres in banks, post offices and TNeGA centres in the city, but very few are equipped for new enrolments. "We have a tough time connecting to UIDAI servers. We can't even process 2-3 applications a day," said an agent.
In post offices too, staff complain of network problems. "It is an additional responsibility for us apart from regular work. It takes an hour to complete a simple process," said a postman in Pammal on condition of anonymity.
UIDAI announced that updation of details can be done for free online from March 15. "It is not friendly online, so I visited the enrolment centre, but the service is bad," said Krishnakumari, a senior citizen.
State IT department officials, under whom TNeGA and TACTV function, said they will have to discuss with the UIDAI regional office on Bengaluru to get it fixed as they only access the server and not manage it. However, UIDAI officials were not available for comment.