Long wait at Kohima Aadhaar centres a pain for many

KOHIMA — Aadhaar card has become an important document, as it can be used for various purposes including availing government schemes and applying for government service, but it’s not easy to get one in Kohima, as citizens have to endure long waits at enrollment centres even for a minor correction or update.

Nagaland’s capital city currently has only three active Aadhaar enrolment centres — Kohima Head Post Office, Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Kohima and Bank of India at Jail Colony – leading to the mad rush.

Allahabad Bank was earlier identified as an enrolment centre but has discontinued the service.

Lanu, a resident of High School Colony, said that he arrived at the enrolment centre in Bank of India on Tuesday at 6 am but discovered people having arrived as early as 4 am.

He said that he came to the centre due to the rush at the DC office and the Post Office but didn’t see any difference in all the enrolment centres.

‘I updated the Aadhaar (not his) some days ago but there was a spelling mistake. So, I returned to make a small correction,’ he told Eastern Mirror, adding that he had been waiting for hour hours after having submitted the Aadhaar form.

At the Deputy Commissioner’s office, people, mostly students, were seen waiting for their turns in two queues, when this newspaper visited.

Khumchoba Sangtam, a graduate student, said that he arrived at the centre in the morning to rectify his Aadhaar card but run out of patience after seeing the long queue. He added that some might not be able to complete their tasks even after waiting for hours together.

Pointing out the hurdles faced by the citizens, he said the government should set up more centres so that public can complete their necessary tasks on time.

Similarly, Wangnem W Konyak, who also came to the centre after classes for his Aadhaar verification and update, opined that the government should consider the inconvenience faced by working professionals and students by easing Aadhaar card enrolment and update.

At the same location, Kekhriesanuo Sanchu, a college student, had been waiting for three-and-a-half hours to link her phone number to her Aadhaar card. “I came here at 9 am and still haven’t done yet,” she said.

Technical glitches affect centres

According to Daniel Domeh, Assistant Manager at India Post, Nagaland Division, the Aadhaar enrollment and update centre at Kohima Head Post Office receives approximately 500 to 600 applications per month for updates, corrections, and new enrollments.

The centre is authorised by the central government as one of the agencies for Aadhaar enrolment under the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

The official informed that the Post Office centre handles two tasks as per the UIDAI guidelines — new Aadhar enrollment and updates or corrections related to names, addresses, phone numbers, etc., in the existing Aadhaar cards.

He said that the centre usually completes a maximum of 40 processes in a day, during the operating hours from 9 am to 4 pm, Monday to Saturday, with one operator and supporting staff.

The officer said that majority of new enrollments are children and school-age children, while adults usually come to update their mobile phone numbers, address or rectify names.

The centre witness some rush during breaks in the academic session as more students tend to use the holidays as an opportunity to get their work done, he said.

Outlining some of the challenges, Domeh said that they are helpless if there are server glitches at the central level, as it is not locally controlled. Sometimes, work is affected by poor internet connectivity as it is based online, otherwise, the centre is running very smoothly, he added.

He went on to say that there are nine such centres in Nagaland under the Department of Post but only the one in Kohima is running smoothly due to the lack of manpower and technical glitches.

The department is not under any obligation to provide such services, but due to the public demand, an employee has been assigned to provide social services to those in need, he maintained.

He expressed hope that the public understands that the services provided at the Post Office are solely for the public good and not for profit, as the UIDAI does not provide manpower or any kind of assistance to the centre.

Heavy workload

For Medochuno Meruja, the lone operator at the centre, a typical day begins in front of a long queue at the Aadhaar enrolment centre set up at Head Post Office Kohima. She would then collect the documents from the people and call them in turns for further updates, processing at least 40 applications in a day.

Assigned as an operator for the centre, Meruja said that she received five applications even on New Year Day, and the number has been increasing steadily.

She said that new enrolments are taken up on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Most adults come to the centre for updating their biometrics, ration card linkage, etc., while most students come for Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (AAPAR) and Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) IDs.

Being the sole operator at the centre, she said that the workload is heavy, as she has to explain every detail like documents required for new enrolments, update, correction etc. to the customers, besides technical work (computer).

“I have to repeat the same information from A to Z to every customer because the level of understanding is different from one customer to the other. I do that the whole day,” she said, adding that she spends most of her time dealing with customers rather than on computers.

‘We can get more work done if we do not have to explain to customers and focus on the task at hand,’ she added.

As per the UIDAI guidelines, the centre charges INR 100 for an update, INR 50 for correction and mobile linking, while new enrollments are free.