Tough time for citizens at UID centres

Sulochana Naik,another citizen waiting in queue,was told that she has to come back the next day as the technical staff was not available. “Although this can be made simple,people at these offices make it difficult for citizens,’’ says Naik.

The agencies carrying out the drive have been facing hiccups like shortage of forms and problems with the machines. Pune,with just 16 per cent coverage of overall population,has done poorly as compared to other parts of the state.

Citizens in all the areas have a problem with the enrollment forms. Four agencies,Wipro,Mahaonline,Smartchip and Terrasoft have 38 centres in the city with 132 kits being installed. “Recently we have added 20 more and this should ease the problem,’’said a member from Aadhar.

Agency members,when contacted,said they do not want to make any specific comment on functioning as they have been updating the government about it regularly. “I do not want to give any comment on how we are going about it. We have been giving all details to the government,’’ said a member from an agency.

Local corporators are adding their bit to the drama by “taking charge” of the project in a bid to woo the masses ahead of civic elections. “We,as enrollment agencies,cannot ask them to not interfere. It is the responsibility of the government to issue statements,’’ said another agency member. Corporators,on their part,say that they are only helping people fill the forms.

“The census officers appointed by the state government need to take necessary action against such practices. We cannot allow corporators to help or interfere in the process,’’ say Aadhar members. Citizens,on the other hand,feel that since agencies not being effective with their systems,the corporators were only trying to help. “The agency is sending people from one centre to another. The rounds just continue and unless the system is streamlined,confusion is definitely going to prevail,” says Sumeet Mahajan,a resident of Kondhwa.

While most agencies do not have enough operators,they are requesting people that they have time till March 2012 and need not rush. “We are giving people time and date and there is no need to rush at the agency office at any odd hour. We are trying to follow a system but people don’t want to adhere to it,’’ says an agency member.