Azad Sheikh, a Bangladeshi national, got a home, an identity and also an Aadhaar card.
I have a home, an identity, but no Aadhaar card.
The last is partially true.
I have an Aadhaar card, which is in a different city. Several attempts to change the address to my current residence both online and offline have met with similar responses.
“Your Aadhaar Update request has been rejected due to: Mismatch of details in Enrolment/update form and Proof of Address document. Kindly update again- UIDAI.”
Arrested in a hit-and-run case last week involving a police officer, Azad Sheikh paid Rs 15,000 to the man who gave him shelter in a small town near the Indo-Bangla border in North 24-Parganas, submitted fake documents, got a genuine Aadhaar card and got employment as a driver. It means he has a driving license as well, all from fake documents.
Nine years ago, when I moved to Punjab and took up residence in Mohali, all I had to do was walk into the nearest post office with the rent agreement and get the job done.
Three years later to update the Mumbai address, I went to a bank’s branch in Kolkata’s BBD Bag area and despite minor protests from the staff complaining about the late hour (around 2.30pm), got the address updated in 15-20 minutes.
I had thought this was the last time I would need to update the address.
For banking requirements after returning to Kolkata, I have made at least five attempts, on my own and even through an LIC agent who knew someone (no money was asked). The result has been the same.
Mine is a rented flat, so I do not have electricity bill, or property tax or water tax bills to support my claim that indeed it is me living in this premises. All that I have is the rent agreement.
Similar rent agreements had worked in two earlier address updates without any glitches.
The first online attempt failed on November 12 last year. Asking around how I could get the address changed, I was directed to post offices. For two or three weeks, I visited two post offices on Central Avenue, every time I was told the personnel dealing with Aadhaar was on another desk. “Please come back later.”
Someone sent me a form which had to be filled and attested by either an elected representative or a government official. One evening, returning from office, I spotted the local councillor. Thankfully, she was carrying her official seal with her. Signed and sealed on the counter of a tailor’s shop.
I thought indeed the problems were behind me and I would now have a bona fide document to prove that I am a resident of Kolkata. I thought a little too early.
The same personnel, who were engaged in other duties at the post office, pointed me to the different dates, one at the top of the form, which I had written, and the other underneath the councillor’s signature. Both were a few days apart.
An argument ensued and turned a trifle heated, with other members of the post office staff joining in. I went through the biometrics, paid the fee online.
Some days later came the same response. “Rejected… Blah. Blah. Blah.”
Apparently, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which issues Aadhaar cards, has made the rules stringent to stop people like Azad Sheikh, who are still getting away by paying hard cash.
UIDAI has yet to respond to my post detailing the problem.
Just last month, a Supreme Court division bench had asked the Delhi government, which law says bank accounts cannot be operated without Aadhaar.
The state police says, there are rackets working in the districts, especially those along the international border, where it does not take more than Rs 500 to get hands on fake documents and a genuine Aadhaar card.
And here am I, born and educated in India, employed in India, voted in India with genuine documents, none of which can help perform as simple a task as updating the address in the Aadhaar card.
I have not tried to get the address updated since.
Rejections, of any kind, are hard to take.