1 operator and 150 hopefuls: Aadhaar updation at Tiruvallur Tahsildar office tests endurance

TIRUVALLUR: An overwhelmed data entry operator, 50 tokens per day, and a sea of weary faces. This is the daily scene at the Permanent Aadhaar Enrolment Centre at the Tiruvallur District Tahsildar's office, where administrative delays are colliding with public desperation.

For the nearly 100 to 150 residents who arrive here daily, many with children and elderly relatives in tow, the quest to update an Aadhaar card has become a test of patience and endurance. Just one official distributes a limited number of forms each morning, and the majority are turned away, forced to return day after day for essential updates required for everything from rations to bank accounts.

The physical space itself tells a story of neglect. Poor lighting casts a gloom over the room, where a lack of chairs forces many to sit on the floor. The damaged benches and general uncleanliness compound the misery, while the single staff member struggles to maintain order among the frustrated crowd.

Domino effect

For K Anjala, a senior citizen and widow from Tirupachur village, the ordeal has tangible consequences. "I didn’t get my monthly provisions from the PDS centre," she lamented, after waiting for over two hours. "The salesman there told me I must update my KYC first. What am I to do if I cannot even submit the form?"

The bottleneck affects a wider cross-section of citizens. S Ravichandran from Veppambattu, who is trying to upgrade his biometric data, is trying his luck for a second consecutive day at the centre. "One staff member is struggling to manage the crowd. The forms are collected only until 10.30 am. If you are late, you have lost a day," he said.

Echoing his frustration was D Ruddharapathy of Tirununravur, who had brought his son for a biometric update. "With only one staff member, the process is painfully delayed. The noise and chaos inside the room are unbearable. Deploying additional workers would significantly ease the public's burden," he urged.

One staffer, more problems

The lone Data Entry Operator at the centre, who is at the heart of the storm, acknowledged the impossibility of the situation. "The public count may fluctuate, but I am unable to manage this crowd alone," the worker said, suggesting a pragmatic, if limited, solution: "We could initially issue 50 forms and then issue more after 3 pm to manage the flow better."

Hope for a resolution may be on the distant horizon. When contacted, the special Tahsildar in charge of the Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation (TACTV), which authorises the desk, indicated that a change is possible. "Based on the written request of the Tiruvallur Tahsildar, the data entry operator count may increase," the official stated.

For now, that promise offers little comfort to the scores of residents who continue to gather at dawn, their documents in hand, hoping that today will be the day their token number is called.