Issuance of Aadhaar cards held up

HYDERABAD: Around 50 per cent of applicants of the Unique Identification Number have not got their Aadhaar cards though they applied five months ago. The rule-book, however, states an applicant should get the Aadhaar number within 20 days after registration.Shabaz Khan, a resident of Malakpet said, “My family and I enrolled for the Aadhaar card on February 11 but we have still not received our Aadhaar numbers. I complained many times at the Malakpet Aadhaar centre and called up the help lines of Aadhaar but to no avail. Some of my colleagues have also not received the Aadhaar number though they applied four months ago. What is the cause of so much delay?” B Hari Krishna, deputy director of the Public Distribution System admitted there are technical problems in the Aadhaar registration process. “We sorted out hundreds of problems in the past and are looking to address the current ones soon,” he said. B Saibabu, technical in-charge of Aadhaar added, “So far, 1.2 crore individuals have registered for Aadhaar numbers but half of the applicants have not got their numbers. They have been phoning in with their complaints to the civil supply office.” Meanwhile, Aadhaar in-charge and assistant supply officer, MS Seshagiri Rao said, “75 per cent of the population have already registered for Aadhaar cards and 40 per cent have already got their Aadhaar numbers. The rest will get their numbers soon.”In the first phase of registration, Aadhaar centres have been set up in 7 districts- Hyderabad, Rangareddy, East Godavari, Adilabad, Chittoor, Anantapur and Srikakulam. From September, the state government would set up registration centres in rest 16 districts. Some banks and educational institutions have also set up Aadhaar registration centres with the help of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), for speeding up the process. In a recent public meeting, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said all school and college students will be given scholarships and other benefits using the Aadhaar number from the next academic year and hence it is a must for transactions through educational institutions.