news details |
|
|
| UID card project shelved; Incompetence of IT minister or red tape? | | | Asif Iqbal Naik
JAMMU, Nov 28: Call it incompetence of Minister for Science and Technology or alleged red-tape in the department headed by him but the much hyped Unique Identification card (UIC) project has been reportedly shelved within four months of its inauguration by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
The Rs. 24 crore dream project of Chief Minister has been kept in cold storage. It needs to be mentioned here that Omar was first person to be scanned for Unique Identification Number or 'Aadhar' or UID. Jammu and Kashmir Bank which acts as a nodal agency to monitor and enroll UID card awarded contract to two companies, Wipro Technologies, Gurgaon and Srinagar's based Comptech Technology after they won the bid to carry out the enrollment of 27 lakh and 45 lakh people respectively.
The state IT department oversaw the process. After Omar's enrolment, top most bureaucrats and employees of civil secretariat were enrolled for UID card, but neither Omar Abdullah nor other employees received card since UID project was scrapped midway by state government. Fresh tender notices were issued. Sources blamed that the deal was scraped to favour certain blue-eyed. "We have scraped the deal because norms were not followed while awarding contract," said the IT minister Agha Ruhullah said.
CEO Comptech Sheikh Imtiyaz said that they have spent over Rs. 2 crore in this project so far. "We have purchased 50 kits at Rs. 3 Lacs each and employed nearly 500 people and trained 200 others. We have also applied for loans from private firms by mutating our properties," added the CEO. "This is a set back to me, they did not even inform me that the deal has been scrapped," Sheikh Imtiyaz said.
He said that they came to know about the development through advertisement notice published in newspapers seeking quotations for fresh tender. In response to the question regarding the loss to the companies who were awarded contracts earlier, Rahullah said "Government does not guarding the interest of the companies but interests of the state. We are to see whether proper procedure has been followed or not."
The purpose of UID card is to have a detail profile of person along with finger prints, eye retina prints, Blood group and other relevant details that helps the government to identify and trace the person as and when needed. The project is considered as helpful in a place marred by militancy, the UID drive would have helped the security situation a great deal, but strangely Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in the country where not a single enrollment has taken place in the last several months.
"We are the state which has started the process of registration of UID cards very late, but I am still hopeful that the process which has been already started would be completed on right time once the fresh tendering process concludes," Rahullah said. People are demanding that the Omar government should explain why the exercise hasn't been taken off yet. But Rahullah said that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is not aware about the scrapping of deal.
"Chief Minister is not aware about the scraping of this deal. The department has great respect that CM inaugurated the program that is why we have only scrapped the contract and reduced the number of card enrolment to 10000 to both the companies so that the project inaugurated by the CM does not be stop," Rahullah said. While UID enrollment gathers pace in other states, in Jammu and Kashmir, it has become casualty to bureaucratic red-tape. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
