Elderly rely on touts as deadline to link ration card, Aadhaar nears

“Tamil Nadu’s Aadhaar coverage till August end this year was 6.4 crore against a population of 7.63 crore, of which 4.71 crore have submitted Aadhaar details to FPS” officials said. The three highest Aadhaar covered districts are Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur, with 38 lakhs, 37.27 lakhs and 35.35 lakhs respectively, while Perambalur district has the lowest coverage at 5.41 lakhs. 

“Nationally, Aadhaar coverage is 82% for a population of 1,22,82,29,800 according to the last census. Aadhaar covers a population of 1,04,40,21,338 persons as of now” officials added. Though officials say that Aadhaar and ration card change are ongoing processes, the December 31 deadline has scared the elderly, specially those who are unable to walk. This is because they will be unable to draw rations without the new smart card and the smart card to become operational needs Aadhaar details. Fair price shops accept Aadhaar details from consumers in the afternoons daily. 

The elderly, therefore, have been approaching touts to get Aadhaar staff to come and do the needful in their homes. The charge depends on the distance between the house and the office, it was said.

According to Mrs. Rachel of Pammal, she sought the help of a local tout as the ration card is in her 87-year old mother’s name and she is unable to walk. “Touts are those who frequent taluk offices and help people get pattas” she said. But when the tout demanded Rs.2000 for this service, Mrs. Rachel started searching for another who was cheaper. “The broker told me that the money was to transport the Iris reader, finger print ID reader and computers to my house” she said adding “we have to seek touts as otherwise we need to waste much time in the service centre which affects other work.” 

A senior official, when asked, said that home service was not permitted as people have to come to the local e-seva centre for their Aadhaar card enrolment. “It is to help such people, Aadhaar centres now hand out tokens with the date on which they should come. Services are provided immediately, if there is no crowd,” he said.