Work on to integrate Aadhaar card details with NPR

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 24

Thousands of government school teachers across Punjab have once again got busy with a one-month exercise to integrate Aadhaar card details with the National Population Register (NPR) by visiting each household and getting two forms filled for each of the family member whose data had been integrated in the 2011 census exercise.

The teachers have been handed over printed data with already available information on which they have to update details, including Aadhar card number of each family member, their individual mobile numbers and even ration card details (optional as new ration cards not being made). Certain changes such as splitting of a family with few members moving out to other locations too have to be noted in the forms for the further upgradation of the data.

This is the third visit to the household by the enumerators to cull data for the NPR since 2011. A socio-economic, caste and religion census had been conducted by the government two years ago. The current exercise is being conducted by the administration for rural areas and by the MC staff for the colonies falling in the city limits. The enumerators have been fuming that the entire exercise of keeping an integrated data should have been done from the very beginning instead of matching it at this stage which, they said, had become very cumbersome.

While the current exercise is to be completed by the end of this month, most enumerators have said that they were facing a lot of problems. “The printed data which we have received for the areas to be covered by us is incomplete and we cannot proceed till we get a handbook for the same,” said some teachers from Phillaur.

The enumerators said there had been a lot of migration, especially of population around industrial areas of the city, and it was not getting possible to trace them from anywhere. “As per the instructions, we have to seek details of their new locations from their neighbours and report back. Most neighbours too are not able to give any information despite repeated visits,” they said. The staff also said that getting the phone numbers from the families too was very difficult, as many of them were reluctant to share such details.

There are 914 teachers engaged for the work only in Jalandhar rural areas. The Education Department officials said the teachers working as enumerators had been asking them to allow them to leave the school premises by noon, which they too were finding difficult.

Joint Commissioner, Jalandhar, MC Rajiv Kumar Verma, said nearly 60 per cent work in the city areas was over since November 1 and the rest would be done by November 30. Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav has appealed to the residents to cooperate with the staff. The office of the Director, Local Bodies, has been coordinating the exercise for the state.