Delhi to begin unique number enrolment on eve of Games

As one of the states where the UIDAI pilot project would be carried out,enrolments will be done through the night in Delhi with the aid of mobile vehicles,officials said. The process would be set off with an inauguration at the Society of Promotion of Youth and Masses in Nizamuddin,the Homeless Citizen Resource Centre for South Zone. It may,however,not be a big affair due to the Commonwealth Games,which is scheduled to begin on October 3,officials said,adding that Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit may be asked to inaugurate the project as she had launched the Mission Convergence Scheme in the Capital. “She may have a tight schedule because of the Games,” an official from St Stephen’s Hospital said,adding that they expect to cover at least 100 people on the day of the launch.

St Stephen’s Hospital,the mother NGO for the Homeless of Community Health Department,is the chief coordinating unit for the survey. Working in collaboration with other NGOs,they will also act as introducers for migrants and homeless persons who may not have any identification. Street residents who have been living in the city for more than six months will be eligible for the ‘Beghar Card’,a smart card that will also carry the UIDAI number.

“We will have to rely on their word. With the homeless,you really have no way of verifying their claims,” the official said. On October 2,around 100 people will be given ‘Beghar Cards’ and they will be enrolled into the UIDAI project on that basis. The unique identification numbers will arrive in about three weeks,officials said.

“Each individual will take around 12 minutes. We expect to cover around 100,” one of them said. The process to spread awareness on the enrollment drive has already begun,and seven children from Sundernagari have been chosen to perform Nukkad Nataks to inform the public about the scheme. Besides this,a road show by disabled as well as homeless persons has also been planned,sources said,adding that these people will approach the homeless on their tri-cycles and inform them about the scheme.

Survey of homeless underway
Mission Convergence,the registrar for the UIDAI project in Delhi,has begun the process of digitising data for what they term as the most vulnerable section of the society.

The surveys had been taken up around three months ago and,so far,62,000 homeless people have been mapped by NGOs partnering with Mission Convergence,a Delhi government initiative to provide access to welfare schemes to the homeless and BPL families across the city. The survey for 35,000 homeless persons is underway,officials said. A St Stephen’s Hospital staffer said the surveys were done during the night — from 7 pm to 3 am — on most days.