Aadhar enrollment in Ukhrul's interior villages faces conundrum
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Ukhrul, April 02 2015 : Call it a budget crunch or a commission deficiency or a case of topographical implications of Ukhrul district where inter-village road connectivity, for the most part, is poor and a number of villages remain inaccessible.

Or still see it a combination of the three.

Whatever it is, the enrolling agency of Aadhar/Biometric project of Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) in the district seems to be having a tough time trying to bring the inhabitants of interior villages under the process.

A perplexing conundrum of "who should foot the bill" for enrolling people residing in remote corners came to light when this Hueiyen Lanpao correspondent Thursday visited different registration centres located inside the district mini secretariat complex for an independent survey on the current enrolment process of biometric system in the district.

Highly-placed sources from the agency In-Media which is assuming the task of covering Ukhrul, disclosed that the process is going on smoothly at the three centres also called 'permanent camps' stationed at mini secretariat, Hamleikhong for residents of Ukhrul, Chingai and Phungyar constituencies as well as for those of all the 27 localities within the district headquarters via its co-ordination with the respective local authorities.

"But it is altogether a different task when it comes to registering people who are permanently residing in their respective villages which are far-off and where travelling expenses are very high," an official of the agency disclosed on condition of anonymity while adding that in the event of the agency dispatching its team to such villages for the purpose the staff are at risk of incurring big expenses due to high vehicle hiring charges.

Explaining on the difficult proposition, the official said that every staff member works on a commission of Rs 15 each (inclusive of all expenses) for every single registration and each staff could normally enroll a total of 30 to 40 persons in a day whereas hiring of vehicles costs thousands of rupees which the commission could barely cover.

"Even then since we are committed to fulfill our task, we are trying to work out a viable way to go ahead.

For now we are sending our teams on a trial basis to a few villages like Langdang, Tallu, Hungpung Ngaingu, Teinem etc.

which are nearby the district headquarters," he informed before calling upon all villages across the district to extend every possible assistance to the agency in the form of providing conveyance etc considering the constraints it is facing.

Meanwhile In-Media sources informed that at presently it is managing with just a handful of equipments and a total of 28 staff members working in the district but some 24 new staff would be joing the team very soon.

"We are expecting to absorb some 40 staff more into our Ukhrul team from the upcoming Mega Camp training to be held on 6-7 April," it added.

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