Aadhaar-PAN linking: Heavy rush as people queue up at Akshaya centres

KOCHI: With just two days left for linking one's Aadhaar and PAN cards, citizens are at their wit's end trying to get their documents in place. Even the local Akshaya centres are struggling to tackle the heavy, last-minute rush.
At an Akshaya centre in Alinchuvadu, Ernakulam, the queue began at 5.30am on Wednesday. With centres only accepting 30 requests a day, V P Antony did not want to take any chance.The 70-year-old retired government employee queued up outside the centre at 6am. "I'm here to make a correction in my wife's Aadhaar card. She is unwell and can't stand in queue for long. When our turn comes I will call her," he said.
Of the 150 Akshaya centres in Ernakulam district, only 60 have the required software. And of these, many are struggling to deal with the workload due to server issues.
"Initially, we had a token system through which pre-bookings were made. But now we are facing issues with the server. Akshaya centres at most of the places have winded up Aadhaar-related work owing to server issues. That is why we face a huge rush here," a staff at the Akshaya e-Centre at Alinchuvadu said.
"Just like the people who stand in queue, we are also struggling with work overload. We work on Sundays to complete all the pending works. Still we are able to cater to only 30 people a day," the employee added. For harried people, especially senior people, forced to make several rounds of Akshaya centres though, this comes as no solace. "I have been visiting this centre for the last two weeks from Kakkanad along with my 8-month pregnant wife to get a new Aadhaar card. When I approached the Akshaya centre at Kakkanad, I was sent back as they were updating software," Savio Joy, an employee at CSEZ, Kakkanad, said.
Ajisha L I, Ernakulam district project manager, IT Mission, admits there's a problem. "This is a central issue that Unqiue Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has to resolve. The current crisis started in May when the Centre made GPS mandatory for operating systems. At most of the Akshaya centres, operators fail to log in to systems due to poor GPS signal. Heavy rains have made the situation worse," she said. The UIDAI team in Bengaluru is handling the software and trying to solve the issue, she added.
Seeram Sambasiva Rao, director, Kerala IT Misison explained that Centre has selected only a certain number of Akahsya centres in each district for Aadhaar enrolment and related issues. "Each machine costs around Rs 1 lakh. That is the reason for this rush," he said. "I acknowledge that there are server issues and interruptions. These problems need to be sorted out by the UIDAI. We are in constant touch with them."