Aadhaar ordeal

I read with interest Aadhaar agony for disabled (March 21). I would like to share the trials and tribulations of an aunt. She is 94 years old, a widow with no children. Last April, she fell and broke her femur bone and has only recently started walking with assistance. Since she is unable to step out of home, she requested me to apply for an Aadhaar card on her behalf. I visited an office on Rashbehari Avenue, with the required papers but was told that my aunt would have to visit the office herself. I tried to explain to them her predicament and was told that she would need to submit a doctor’s certificate. Thereafter, an appointment would be given and the office employees would have to be escorted to my aunt’s house and back in a car. I arranged for the doctor’s certificate and submitted the same, only to be told that a house visit would not be possible. That is where the application status stands as of now.
Tuhin K. Roy

My mother, who can barely walk, has not been able to get an Aadhaar card and calls to 1947 have not been of any help.

Debjani Banerji, 
Salt Lake

I am a septuagenarian widow with chronic osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. I have also undergone knee replacement and total hip replacement surgeries and am unable to straighten my palms and fingers properly. As a result of such physical problems, my fingerprint impressions did not match the requisite standards for generating Aadhaar cards. Out of sheer frustration, I wrote about my plight to the director general and mission director, Unique Identification Authority of India, New Delhi, in July 2016.  I requested that an Aadhaar card be issued to me based on my retina scan and the particulars furnished in my passport. The director, directorate of census operations, Salt Lake, requested me to contact the Kamarhati Municipality for re-enrolment. I arrived at the first-floor office of the municipality at the scheduled date and time and furnished my eye scan and fingerprints. A year has passed but my Aadhaar status still shows “not processed”!

Bela Banerjee

My son Pinak Kundu, 26, is autistic. He is restless and cannot wait in one place for more than five minutes. I have visited the local enrolment centre several times but I have been told that a house visit would not be possible. 
Prabir Kundu

I would like to share my story of Aadhaar card rejection. I returned to India from abroad last year and wanted to apply for Aadhaar. I lost vision in my right eye in 2012 but I have never had a problem of getting my passport renewed. But my Aadhaar application was rejected because of technical errors. I tried to enrol again, only to be rejected again. The reason cited both times: “biometric data errors”. I wrote to the UIDAI support team, explaining my problem but have not received any response till date. 

Banumathy

One of my friends had to apply six times before his biometrics were recorded successfully.

Dilip Mukherjee

Hawker hazard

I would like to draw attention to the condition of pavements in the Lake Market area (Trampled: pedestrian right to pavement, February 1). The entire area has been taken over by hawkers selling various items from flowers and household items to clothes and more. Pedestrians are forced to walk on the busy Rashbehari Avenue, putting their lives at risk.  
S. Ganguli

Hawkers continue to hold fort at Sector V. The menace must be checked with a firm hand.

Pawan Churiwal

It is time the state government took necessary measures to clear hawkers from the pavements of Kasba. Only then can pedestrians walk freely and safely.

R.M. Chackraburtty

It is most frustrating to note major pavements are occupied by illegal hawkers across the city. 

A.S. Mehta, 
New Alipore

Hawkers have occupied the entire footpath opposite Utsa Reliance Retail store, Newtown, AA1. What compounds the chaos is when customers park their cars there to stop and shop. 

Name withheld on request

There are four stalls on the pavement in front of my house. They have even occupied our parking space forcefully. I have paid several visits to Tollygunge police station and also the corporation office, but nothing has happened. 

S. Mitra