HYDERABAD - Nothing can be more comical yet bizarre in officialdom! The Unique Identification Authority of India, (UIDAI), has issued an Aadhaar Card in the name of a coriander leaf!
The blunder or more likely a prank played by an employee, occurred in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. An Aadhaar card, bearing number 4991 1866 5246, was issued in the name of Mr Kothimeer (Coriander), Son of Mr Pulav. It doesn’t stop there. The address of Mr Kothimeer has been mentioned as Gongura Thota (a popular leaf vegetable in Andhra), Mamidi Kaya Vuru (Raw Mango village) of Jambuladinne Mandal in Anantapur district. The card displayed the photo of a mobile phone against the name of the card holder.
The local postman was the first to come across the faux pas when he looked at the name and address mentioned on the card. “It is probably a prank played by someone who wanted to tell us how casually the process of data collection is done in villages. The private agencies entrusted with the data collection have no understanding of the job,” opposition Telugu Desam Party MLA from the district P Keshav said.
Even as embarrassed revenue officials declared that they would trace out the agency which completed the enumeration work in Jambuladinne to fix responsibility for the goof-up, the amused postman had had a hearty laugh.
An official at the Hyderabad centre of UIDAI said that such a card could be a prank played by a mischievous employee. “We are investigating the matter,” he said. Ironically, Anantapur was one of the six districts chosen for pilot implementation of the UIDAI scheme in Andhra Pradesh.