HYDERABAD: As the process of getting identity proof like voter ID card, passport or ration card is lengthy, fake ID cards makers are thriving, with a number of desperate people opting for fake ID cards as it would not take much time. Time and again, police are rounding up fake ID card makers. Recently, some groups which make fake voter ID cards were nabbed by the Commissioner’s Task Force here. Suhas Chaturvedi, task force additional DCP said, “There are several fake ID card makers across the state.
They do it for easy money.
This illegal business is going on as the official process of issuing ID cards is timetaking.” Many needy people try to get them by any means. If the government issues ID cards instantly, fake ID cards can be curbed, he added.
There are two kinds of people who go for fake ID cards--those who need some ID proof quickly and those who do not meet the criteria (voter ID card for example), but still want to acquire it, he said. “There are many loopholes in the system regarding issue of ID cards. This is why we still find a lot of fake cards and certificates in circulation,” Chaturvedi said.
KRBHN Chakravarthi, director of civil supplies, also agrees with Suhan. He said out of the total 2.24 crore ration cards, 15 percent are fake . “Here, the problem is that the government delays everything,” he said.
Zubair Ahmed, head of a group that makes fake voter ID cards who was nabbed recently by the police, said, “I made fake voter ID cards for people who have immediate needs like applying for phone connection, PAN card, driving licence etc.” He would charge Rs 500 to Rs 600 per card, but some times people were ready to pay more than that, he added. His associates and he, while working as data entry operators at a computer solutions firm at Barkatpura got acquainted with the making of voter ID cards as the company got outsourcing contract from the government. “I used to meet the people who apply for voter ID cards and wait for them for months. Then, I started making fake ID cards for them to earn easy money.
Needy people also encouraged me to make fake cards by paying good amounts,” said.
A resident of Rasulpura, P Parasuramulu, said he had applied for a voter ID card six months ago but did not receive it so far. “What shall I do?” he asks. Md Hasan Ali, a resident of Mehdipatnam, had applied for Aadhaar card some 10 months ago, but he has not received it yet. He says there are so many like him who are victims of redtapism and handicapped bureaucracy regarding issue of various identity proofs like voter ID and passport.
According to government norms, issuing a voter ID card takes more than one month, ration card takes two months, driving licence and PAN card too take a month’s time, Aadhaar card takes three months, passport takes one-and-a-half months. But all these are delayed much more longer.