Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, May 16: A private firm engaged by the Directorate of Census Operations (DCO), Orissa is taking up biometric photo collection work at a snail’s pace, delaying Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) target of bringing citizens under the Aadhaar scheme.
The DCO has engaged Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) for collection of biometric data. ECIL has tasked five vendors in different areas of the state with the job of collecting data.
Sources said BMC is unable to take action as the agency has been roped in by the centre for collection of biometric data in Bhubaneswar. So far, a little over 50 per cent of the city’s residents have been covered while the rest are yet to be enrolled.
Only 78 Aadhaar enrolment forms were received and 279 biometric data were collected in a single day (May 14, 2015) at ten centres opened across the city. The firm should have collected at least 600-700 biometric data in a day, a source said.
BMC deputy commissioner Deeptirani Sahoo admitted that the firm is “quite unprofessional” and not cooperating with BMC due to which Aadhaar enrolment process has been hampered in the city.
Though the deputy commissioner claimed that over 64 per cent of Bhubaneswar’s residents (of over five years) have been enrolled under Aadhaar, sources claimed only 50-52 per cent people have been registered.
A senior official alleged that the firm is not even sharing statistics of people whose biometric data has been collected with BMC. “People are also unaware that the ten Aadhaar enrolment centres are operational because of lack of awareness,” official said.
An ECIL official said computers often stop working at the centres while people also submit same forms multiple times causing delay.
Aadhaar centres are operational at Laxmi Sagar Jatri Niwas, Chandrashekharpur Kalyan Mandap, Dakshinchandi temple Kalyan Mandap at Old Town, Saheed Nagar, CRP Rental Colony, Nayapalli, IRC Village near Jupiter Science College, Jagamara, New Government Press Chakk in Gajapatinagar and Sai Krushna Club in Nayapalli.
