Team Herald
MARGAO: People who went to renew their cards at the Margao Health Center and the District Collectorate on Thursday had to wait for around three hours in a queue to reach the counter. Herald had reported about the long queues on Wednesday but the next day, the lines have only gotten longer
The public could have been spared wasting a day if the renewal procedure had to be planned well and implemented using technology instead of following the current procedure in which the individual has to confirm his identity using Aadhar based fingerprint scan, mention if any changes have to be made and then pay the Rs 200 fee.
“They could have provided an online renewal option using Aadhar based mobile OTP authentication and online digital payment which would have reduced the lines. Both these technologies were the primary focus of Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he implemented policies like Demonetisation. Even Parrikar promised that all government transactions would go digital last year”, says Dominic Noronha, a resident of Sirlim who visited the Health Department on Thursday but turned back after looking at the line. The health department started the renewal process on 1st August. The last date for renewal is 30th September. In the last few days, the department began sending SMS alerts asking people to renew their card. But these SMSs were sent to the public in the evening asking them to come the next day. “Almost everyone got just one day’s notice for the camps. My message came at 8.45 pm asking me to come the next day. They did not consider the fact that people have to take leave and come. They should have at least given us at least 3-7 days’ notice.”, said Savio Fernandes, a resident of Raia who works in a private firm in Verna.
When asked why one day’s notice is being given to people, the Staff of Goa Electronic Limited (GEL) who are renewing the cards informed that people can visit any day till the last day. There are other smaller yet significant issues which people face. For example, in the Margao Health centre, senior citizens have to climb the stairs to the first floor. The line is so long that half the people in the line have to stand in the sun outside. In the Collectorate, there were more than 200 people in a line. Many people who came had to turn back because they didn’t have the time to spend standing in the line.
On an average, one person spends 5 minutes at the counter. There were three counters operational both at the Health Center and at the Collectorate. Therefore each centre can only process around 60 applications an hour. Another interesting issue is that during renewal, there is no verification done to check if the all the family members are alone. This implies that the government could be paying a premium for providing health insurance for people who have passed away. Also, people who had enrolled for the scheme in July have to renew the card in just two months which is a waste of public funds.
In the last 10 days, the lines are expected to grow longer since many people who were either not aware or who were busy earlier this month due to Ganesh Chaturthi will be heading to the counters all at once.
