High Aadhaar registration in state but many yet to get card

Though Maharashtra has one of the highest registrations for Aadhaar card in India, with 9 crore citizens registering, hundreds haven't received their cards at their homes.

IT department and UIDAI officials, however, insist that e-Aadhaar cards can be downloaded and you don't need them delivered home. But agencies entrusted with the task of generating Aadhaar cards are supposed to send the cards by regular post and don't care to ensure their actual delivery.

"Private agencies are entrusted with the job of generating the cards, but the agency staffers just drop them at the post office. The cards are sent by normal post, not by registered post. Therefore, there is no guarantee that they are delivered," said an IT department official. The postal department too does not take responsibility for the cards' delivery.

State IT secretary Rajesh Agarwal said, "The e-Aadhaar card facility has taken off in a big way. The e-Aadhaar card is as valid as the regular Aadhaar card. Everyday as many as 4 lakh people in the country are printing e-Aadhaar cards. Besides, the IT department is encouraging people to go for e-Aadhaar cards and, therefore, delivery isn't a major issue."

However, citizens have a different story to tell. Ghatkopar resident Tejas Doshi said, "I have not got my Aadhaar card and not even the e-Aadhaar card." Citizens fear the card should not be misused as not all places have the facility to verify the biometric data on it.

Meanwhile, the state government hopes to ensure that 10 crore citizens are registered by monsoon. "As of now, we have 4,000 Aadhaar card registration centres in state. After monsoon, we will only have 2,000 permanent ones to take care of the rest of the registrations," said an IT department official.