April 22, 2019
The registration for an Aadhaar card continues to be a
headache for people with disabilities. Even after years of work on improving
the registration system, people with disabilities still struggle to get
themselves registered for the 12-digit unique identity number that is based
on their biometric and demographic data.
The latest case comes from Kolkata, where the High Court had
to intervene to facilitate the registration for Aadhaar for a disabled woman.
The case relates to Gouri Pramanik, who was sent back by
UIDAI officials as her fingerprints could not be taken for biometric
verification. Pramanik lost her fingers in a fire related accident when she
was three years old, which makes taking her fingerprint ID impossible. She
was left with no option but to appeal to the high court after a bank refused
to sanction a loan due to the lack of an Aadhaar card.
The Calcutta High Court has ordered the UIDAI to provide her
with an Aadhaar card in seven days’ time. For people who can’t give their
fingerprints, alternate means of verification like an iris scan can be used,
yet disabled people are made to run around, say activists. A large part of
the problem lies in the apathy and lack of awareness on the part of officials
at the ground levels.
It is extremely disappointing that the UIDAI officials at the ground level
are still unaware about the registration process to be followed for
applicants with disabilities. Although there is a provision created for
people with disabilities, those working at the Aadhar centre continue to
remain ignorant and uninterested in doing their work properly. Why do
people with disabilities have to appeal to the judiciary every time such
incidents occur? This a waste of resources that are already scarce and also
severe inconvenience to the people with disabilities. – Shampa
SenGupta, Disability rights activist
The world’s largest biometric ID system, Aadhaar, continues to be marred with
defective implementation due to lack of sensitization and awareness among the
people working in the system. The issue is widespread and affects many people
with disabilities.
Tiruvarur resident Rafiq Ahamed says that people with
disabilities are facing issues from various government departments due to
lack of sensitization among officials.
“Many disabled people applying for Aadhar don’t have limbs and are
treated with arrogance by the officials. It becomes a struggle to get what is
rightfully ours as we are not informed about the various schemes and benefits
on time. If Aadhar card is unique, why do we need unique disability id
(UDID)?”, he asks.
The access to schemes and benefits for people with disabilities is highly
dependent on the Aadhar card and hence it is critical that these complaints
are addressed.
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/22036
