Nearly 4,000 Aadhaar centres in the state will no longer be able to facilitate new registrations or major corrections. The Department of Information Technology and Communication (DOITC) has initiated the process of transitioning the machines at these centres to UCL mode from ECMP mode. Consequently, individuals will now have to visit district and block-level exclusive centres for new Aadhaar registrations or significant modifications.
According to DOITC officials, following this change, Aadhaar operators can no longer make all types of changes to Aadhaar cards. They are restricted to changing only the mobile number and address on the Aadhaar card.
Rakesh Verma, Deputy Director of the Aadhaar Project at DOITC, explained that this change is being implemented in response to directives from the central agency UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India). Changes at block and district-level Aadhaar centres and around 1,700 Aadhaar centres operated by education departments, post offices, and banks will continue as usual.
Aadhaar operators claim that until now, they had the authority to create new Aadhaar cards for individuals under 18 years of age and change photos, names, and birthdates. However, these rights have now been limited. Operators are facing significant challenges, as they can neither create new Aadhaar cards nor change anyone’s photo. The general public is distressed, and people are compelled to visit Aadhaar centres daily.
