The government’s decision for issuance of multiple cards have not gone down well with the residents who feel that the government is wasting money creating multiple IDs, when the money could have been used for the betterment of poor people
The need to frequently queue up to avail of multiple cards for various government benefits has tested the patience of residents in many parts of Bardez taluka.
Speaking to Herald, residents from Saligao, Nagoa and Calangute informed that they have had to regularly queue up to enrol for a Health Card, Aadhaar Card, the Know Your Customer (KYC) details with the LPG agency and now, they are being asked to enrol for the National Population Register (NPR).
The NPR is a comprehensive identity database to be maintained by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India and as per the Citizenship Act, it is compulsory for every citizen of the country to register in the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC). The creation of the National Population Register (NPR) is the first step towards preparation of the NRIC.
Incidentally, the objective of creating this identity database, claims the NPR website, is to help in better utilization and implementation of the benefits and services under government schemes.
But what has also irritated many residents is that the latest such NPR drive has intimation slips which are riddled with errors. In many cases, names and birthdates have been wrongly mentioned on the slips.
“I have an Aadhaar card but the NPR intimation slip shows my father’s name as Kashinath B Kudnekar, instead of Namdev Konadkar. How can I go for such enrolment with such glaring errors,” asked a resident, Ramdas Konadkar.
This correspondent also found out that the name of his father, Marcelino Fernandes, was replaced with Johnny Vinent Mascarenhas.
Another grievance is that many NPR intimation slips were issued to residents barely a day before on or the very day of the enrolment drive, asking them to rush to the respective panchayats or the respective enrolment centres to submit the details.
“First, it was the Aadhaar card, now it is the NPR. I think the government is unnecessarily wasting a lot of money creating multiple IDs. The money could have been used for the betterment of poor people,” added Konadkar.
Fed up with the frequent trips to submit details for various services, some residents have now refused to go for the NPR enrolment drive and prefer to stick to their Aadhaar cards.
“I am disgusted with the government’s decision to issue cards after cards, as we are forced to stand in queues on many occasions,” said a villager, Sam D’Souza.
“I had to stand in a long queue for three times now and I am yet to get the Aadhaar card. I have a gas connection in my name but I don’t have an Aadhaar card to avail of the subsidized rates. Authorities say they are not to be blamed for the non-issue of cards,” added D’Souza.
When contacted, some enumerators have claimed that the errors would be rectified at the time of enrolment. But this has done little to persuade people to spend yet another day to queue up yet again for yet another enrolment drive.
