THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: "She's an autistic child and gets very uncomfortable when unknown people surround her. It takes a lot of effort to go through the mandatory biometric procedure required for Aadhaar, this shouldn't limit my sister from being called a citizen of India," read a story posted on Instagram by Rohit, a 20-year-old media student. Aadhaar has been facing a lot of backlash with the people raising a furore against numerous issues connected to it. Inconvenience caused to people with disabilities (PwD), to stand in queues for long hours and go through tedious verification procedures were addressed to a certain extent when officials decided to personally go to individual houses and complete the procedures.
However, it was left half way. Many problems still persist. Individuals with mental disabilities are refused the provision of the 12 digit individual identification number. The issued cards are said to have covered almost 99% of the adult population and around 76% of children. "Exempting the biometric tests is not acceptable unless the person has a certain deformity. In cases of mental disabilities, parents or guardians are usually asked to accompany. After they get familiarised with the place, card is issued." an official from the Akshaya e-centre told DC.
"We issued Aadhaar card from a centre in Delhi, and they were pretty patient with my daughter. A good amount of time was required to convince her to get photographed as she was turning restless," recalled Prashant, father to an autistic child who's currently attending a special needs school. Another official attending the people at the Aadhaar helpline mentions a case study of the workers at the cashew factory in Kollam who were exempted from giving their finger-print impressions, as the friction ridges of their fingers wear off with time. "Whave asked the centres to allot certain timings for PwD's to specifically attend to their needs."
