Aadhar card : Application and My Experience
Today was a day spent trying to get through the process of applying for an Aadhaar card.
It is the brand name for Unique Identification number which is being introduced in India for each and every citizen.
It is issued by the UIDAI- Unique Identification Authority of India (Planning Commission, Government of India)
This number links to the resident's demographic and biometric information. You can use this to identify yourself in any part of India.
You can also use it to access a host of benefits and services.
Over 42 crore cards have been issued ever since it has been introduced.
There are two centres for application where I live.
I first went to take the application form. There is a main form to be filled by us and a smaller form which you attach to the main form.
Once it's filled with your details including address, name, age, dob, bank account number, you take the filled and completed form to the centre. In our area, the officials tell us to come on a week day at 9am where they will give you a number(something like a token number) but they wrote it on my form. In the afternoon, when they told me to come, I stood in a line with some 30 other people who had brought entire families with babies(yes, even they get the cards done). After quite a bit of wait, the first queue moves on and you get the official to sign and verify your passport details and sign the application form. It's first come first serve, not in accord with what number you have been issued. You have little children running around, initially it's cute but then the midgets start shoving and pushing, basically going crazy. There's too much noise and you just want to pull them by their frock's belts and hurl them far, far away. There was a random baby behind me who just kept poking me whenever it felt like it and saying 'Gaaaaaaah!'
Then you move on to the second queue where in my case it might have taken about 45 mins or a little less to reach the next official. He/She sits in front of a laptop and you sit in front of a monitor facing them. They print out all your details online, you can see as she types, on your screen if she is making any mistake and correct them if they do. This young lady obviously didn't have much experience with the laptop as she kept striking the keys like it was a piano. I was really fascinated to see her fingers poking the keyboard in one swift and hard motion. In the process it took her a very long time to operate, type and scan things. She then proceeded to scan my finger prints like in the photo featured above. They require you to press a little hard as my fingerprints didn't come through clearly. Maybe it was because I had really dry hands especially my right hand since I use it to wash a lot of dishes.
So she asked me lol to wipe my hand over my hair, she probably thought I might have greasy hair and it would help moisturize the hand to obtain a better print hahahahhahahah I do not walk around with grease in my hair so the finger prints didn't come through as expected by her. So much for oil slicks on your head.
Then they ask you to do the same with your thumb prints. It's a relaxed process.
After that I had to look through a retina scan apparatus which you hold and open your eyes wide. I shouldn't have opened them so wide because when I saw the picture on the screen I had the scariest pair of eyes I had ever seen. You know when you hang yourself on a noose from a ceiling and your eyes pop out, yeah, that's what mine looked like. Severely startled. I was like Sh@# can we repeat this. Ofcourse you can't!
Then she asked me to look into the webcam and again I thought open your eyes wide (She asked me to take off my spectacles) and again I looked like I was terribly startled. Oh woe. No more second chances there either. I will end up looking like a convict when my permanent id proof comes out.
How unglamorous!
That is about it. Since they were slow it took the process about fifteen minutes or more. It was boring but I had some time to kill. Maybe if the personnel were better trained it would have been faster and lakhs of people wouldn't have to wait in such terribly, long queues.
Where there were three laptops for three officials to smoothen out the process, one of them just left without notice and never returned so the other two officials were taxed to work harder. That was really bad because there were very old people and young children waiting in line. It took so much more time. They tried contacting that person to come back to take the applications but he wouldn't lift the phone. So that irked many people off.
The entire process took over an hour. It maybe so on Saturdays and Sundays as there will be lots of kids and working people who only get their days off then.
You get to hear some heated arguments and complaints and all that. But at the end of this process, you are done. And you go home and wait another 2-3 months when you get your card mailed home to you.
There is no fee involved, rich- poor everyone can apply.
As a citizen I am not very sure why I am applying. I have been told that it will increase national security and stream line processes wherever you go. It is a unique identity number which will identify you. One out of three people in India will have this card by now. As with everything there will be a pro and con. I decided to go for it. There maybe some of you who may not opt for it with valid reasons. If you are one of them do comment below to let me know what you think because I am interested to know. A friend of mine was arguing that she had a pan card so why do we need an extra card for id purposes.
Before I forget, please eat before you go because don't know how long you will have to stand in line. Don't drink too much water else you might want to pee and then you will get more frustrated. Maybe bring along a phone with games on it. I saw quite a few girls playing angry birds and passing time while they waited. Yeah get munchies if you get hungry. Signing off this Saturday.
love you all
CC
Tags:
Aadhar card
Posts
10 comments
Luckily my fingerprints matched in a go. Even i am wondering when will i use my aadhar :D
ReplyDeletelucky you. I always have trouble during finger printing. All the ones on my left hand matched. Two fingers of my right hand and my thumb didn't match.
DeleteTHIS IS A GREAT POST! I have applied for it too...but wasnt aware that we have to wait for 2-3 months:(
ReplyDeleteThank you, cosmochics. I have been told that the wait can get long at times. There are people who haven't got it after four months too but I hope that's not the case with me.
DeleteI need to go this friday as i have lost my Voter card as well so it is very important now.:) Let's see how much I have to wait.
ReplyDeleteFriday won't be too crowded. Hopefully your wait won't be that long. Good luck :)
DeleteThere's too much noise and you just want to pull them by their frock's belts and hurl them far, far away. There was a random baby behind me who just kept poking me whenever it felt like it and saying 'Gaaaaaaah!'
ReplyDeleteROTFL!!!
Am telling you, Heena. If you want to win over the midgets you need to act like one. :) Am glad my ordeal is over.
DeleteHahaha... Startled eyes :P. I went through a similar process here in UAE for the EIDA card. I haven't applied for Aadhar however I do have PAN card. Like your friend, I sometimes do argue with others asking why I need one more card when other urge me to go for it... I usually take my Galaxy Tab with me wherever I know there would be a waiting time and read ebooks on my fav app Aldiko :). Times flies by then..
ReplyDeletehihi. I feel the same too, why have so many id cards, right :) Good idea to take your reading material along. Saves the frustrating wait. Smart girl :)
ReplyDelete