DC Prashant Kumar (seated) at the inauguration of the 10th permanent UID centre in Dhanbad on Friday. (Gautam Dey)

Busy Dhanbad residents and those settled abroad will no longer have to worry about missing the date for enrolling for Aadhaar cards. They can now simply walk into the common service centre or Pragya Kendra at the district collectorate whenever they get time and register for the 12-digit unique identification (UID) number — a must for all Indians.

Dhanbad deputy commissioner Prashant Kumar inaugurated a permanent enrolment centre for UID numbers at Pragya Kendra on Friday, taking the number of such addresses in the district to 10. The centre will remain open between 10am and 4pm from Monday to Saturday. However, applications for Aadhaar enrolment will be received only from 10am to 1pm, while processing work will be carried out the rest of the day.

“Enrolment for Aadhaar is going on at camps across the district. However, the camps are able to cover only 60 per cent of the populace, as many people can’t make themselves available on the dates given by the enrolment authorities. This is primarily because most have to attend offices, while many are based out of the town and the country,” deputy commissioner Kumar told The Telegraph.

Kumar could not have been more right.

The first person to enrol for Aadhaar at the permanent centre on Friday was a resident of Bhuli, who now lives in Qatar. “Some friends working at the Pragya Kendra informed me about the launch of the new permanent enrolment centre. I decided to utilise my vacation and enrol for Aadhaar. For people like us who are working in foreign countries, the importance of UID number is more,” said Najmal Haque, who hails from Azad Nagar, Bhuli.

Except Haque, all his family members have already got their Aadhaar cards.

All applicants will have to bring an identity proof and a document in support of their date of birth at the time of enrolment. People can also check their Aadhar status on the website, www.uidai.gov.in, 15 days after enrolment. The cards can be also downloaded after minimum 60 days and maximum 90 days.

According to Harbir Singh, territory manager of United Telecoms Limited (UTL), which runs Pragya Kendras in Jharkhand, the first such permanent enrolment centre in Dhanbad district was launched at the common service centre at Lutiparhi (Baghmara) about two months ago.

The eight others are located at Pragya Kendras in Bhuli, West Godhar, West Balihari, East Panderpala, Jhingipahari, Baghmara, Topchachi and Govindpur.

“The basis aim is to provide the direct benefit transfer scheme to all as the central government has integrated schemes like old-age pension, scholarships and subsidy on LPG connection with the Aadhaar cards,” he added.