“Enormous number of complaints of corruption and enrolment process violations against Aadhaar enrolment and update centres under CSC e-Gov,” says UIDAI while asking its sibling to close Aadhaar services business
In a remarkable move that exposes the deep rot within the Aadhaar enrolment process, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the agency assigned to issue Aadhaar numbers has rejected renewal request of another government company Common Services Centres (CSC) e-Governance Services India Ltd for its Aadhaar services. UIDIAI was concerned about the “enormous number of complaints of corruption and violations in enrolment process.” It has decided, under the directions of the Prime Minister’s Office, that Aadhaar enrolment centres would now only function at government premises or bank and post offices.
Ashok Kumar, Assistant Director General of UIDAI, in a letter dated 6 February 2018, said, “In view of the enormous number of complaints of corruption and enrolment process violations against Aadhaar enrolment and update centres under CSC e-Gov it may not be possible to extend or renew the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with CSC.”
“CSC is therefore requested to process its exit from the UIDAI system as per extant procedure and guidelines and close Aadhaar enrolment and update centres working under it in phase manner without causing inconvenience to the general public,” the letter says.
Interestingly, both UIDAI and CSC e-Governance Services, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) work under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY). The CSC SPV was set up by the Ministry under the Companies Act to oversee implementation of the CSC scheme. CSC SPV provides a centralised collaborative framework for delivery of services to citizens through CSCs, besides ensuring systemic viability and sustainability of the Scheme.
And just last month, UIDAI had joined hands with CSC India to launch door step enrolment facility in New Delhi for elderly, patients and others who could not travel to Aadhaar centres. The mobile van was flagged off by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Law and IT.
According to a 2 February 2018 newsletter from CSC, its 11,280 permanent enrolment centres (PECs) have generated 18.09 crore Aadhaar numbers with total enrolment of 26.83 crore. It has updated demographic and biometric information of 5.16 crore people, the newsletter says.
The Common Services Centres or CSC scheme is one of the mission mode projects under the Digital India Programme. CSCs are the access points for delivery of essential public utility services, social welfare schemes, healthcare, financial, education and agriculture services, apart from host of B2C services to citizens in rural and remote areas of the country. It has a pan-India network catering to regional, geographic, linguistic and cultural diversity of the country, thus enabling the Government’s mandate of a socially, financially and digitally inclusive society.
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