
By Vidyadhar Date*
Mumbai: So you are running around to update your Aadhaar card! The government forces you to use the Aadhaar card at every step but has provided little infrastructure for updating, causing misery to citizens.
One of the big problems is that the fingerprints do not match even after 25 attempts, which is the maximum number allowed at a time. That is where the trouble begins.
So you go to the local post office which may be miles away. There you are told that they update for citizens only up to the age of sixty. They clearly do not have the more modern machinery required for senior citizens. That leaves out millions of senior citizens who need priority but thus are singled out for maximum inconvenience.
In Mumbai, one is told one should go to the district collector’s office. The Mumbai city collector’s office is at the other end of the town near the Asiatic library. The suburban district collector’s office is in Bandra East near Chetana College. So millions of people are required to make long-distance trips which means so much pressure on traffic. All this can be easily saved through more decentralisation, and opening more centres. The so-called Seva is not free either, you are paying Rs 100, apart from the much bigger travel cost.
In the office of the collector in Bandra East, the Aadhaar centre is in the compound in a makeshift tin roof structure which must be getting very hot during the afternoon and unbearable in summer. There is a big queue, which is discouraging. The small mercy is that there are chairs in which you sit in a queue and a female staffer first scrutinises everyone, gives instructions on documents to bring etc. The line is meant for all ages, with no consideration for senior citizens.
The employee is stressed but not very rude.
If you are lucky, you are called out for recording your fingerprints and retina photos. The employee presses your fingers and after some attempts, there is some success with the fingers. Then you have to look with eyes full open into the camera, and several attempts are made again.
Then you are given a receipt without any information about when you will get the card. It is only after some queries that you find, that you will get the card online in ten days or so and home delivery may take 45 days. So many basic problems can be sorted out by simply displaying information.
Broken chairs and a sofa set are dumped in the same centre and a lot of construction garbage lies outside in the big compound. There is a big, old banyan tree just near the National Flag which shows the rich tree heritage that Mumbai had. There is a garden and there are a few newly planted trees but a huge space is wasted which could have easily been used to plant trees to give more shade and reduce the need for electricity in the building.
There is a big bus station right behind the office building but there is no way visitors can come to know of it. One finds that there is a shortcut through a small lane from the building. So much for information for connectivity, that the authorities always boast about.
Then no proper Metro connectivity either, the BKC station is one km away and the Bandra colony station is even further. Again no signage, and no bus connectivity. Yet, the Metro authorities go on telling lies and a huge gullible population believes the crap.
So the truth is that bus connectivity is almost instant, right in the backyard of the Collector’s office and yet the authorities go on boasting about Metro connectivity and denying basic amenities for bus commuters. This shows that the Metro authorities have no self-respect, or social concern.
Travelling from the Collector’s office to Bandra station can be a dismal experience, there is no proper footpath on the narrow road which means the government is directly responsible for any injury or death of the walker. There are big dumping grounds on the way, much garbage lies around. The big water body near Bandra east station has been filled up, it seems getting ready for some land grab and high-rise construction. So they are robbing us of facilities and inflicting misery on citizens, treating people with the utmost contempt.
The bus station behind the Collector’s office also provides good connectivity to Bandra West and several other parts of Mumbai which the Metro can never, never give. That is what makes the Metro boast and lies so infuriating. All for want of an updated Aadhaar!
*Senior journalist. Views expressed are personal.