KASARGOD: In what could be another flaw in the all-pervasive Aadhaar, a resident has found his thumb impressions did not match the ones saved on the server of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). But what is worse is he is not able to update the biometric data. “The problem I am facing is unique and causing lots of inconvenience to me,” said Vijayan B, 46, an LIC agent in Karaduka grama panchayat.
He wrote to the Prime Minister and UIDAI. “The authority replied saying it has updated the biometric data. But there is no change,” he said. According to Vijayan, he found out the mismatch in his biometric data when he tried to buy a Reliance Jio SIM in July 2017. “I was denied the mobile connection because my thumb impression did not match the one in the UIDAI data bank,” he said.
Vijayan then approached the Akshaya Centre at Cherkala to update the biometric data. But it could not. “The staff says they do not know what to do now,” he said. Not to give up, he wrote to the authority and the PMO in August 2017. UIDAI deputy director Mahesh M Hervatte from the Regional Office in Bengaluru wrote back saying, “It is informed the updation/ correction in Aadhaar has been carried out successfully.”
However, it mentions he may try alternatives such as iris or one-time password authentication. But the LIC agent said the data was not updated. “And iris or OTP authentication was not available to buy a new SIM,” he said. It could be a technical glitch, but the inability of UIDAI to resolve it is scary, said Vijayan, who had enrolled for the unique ID in the early days of the scheme 10 years ago.
“Now that the government is linking every other service and product to Aadhaar, the inability to resolve my problem is a violation of human rights,” he said.The LIC agent has now taken up the matter with the State Human Rights Commission. “I did not know where else to knock,” he said.