Govt makes plans to recover lost UID data

Confusion over loss of personal data of Aadhaar applicants has forced the government to revise its e-Aadhaar portal.

Confusion over loss of personal data of Aadhaar applicants has forced the government to revise its e-Aadhaar portal.

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The state's information technology department on Tuesday admitted that 'some data' (of around 1 lakh applicants) had been lost due to decryption failure and loss of laptops. This means, many applicants may have to re-enroll for the Unique Identification Number (UID) .

An official from the IT department said the state government was trying to sort out the mess.

“The applicants who have not received their cards will have to first verify from the e-Aadhaar portal [eaadhaar.uidai.gov.in] if their number has been generated. If it is ready, the card can be downloaded from anywhere. Applicants will have to apply again only if their number has not been generated,” he said.

Government officials, however, clarified that applicants who have not received their cards shouldn't re-apply immediately.

“It takes nearly four months to generate the Aadhaar card. We faced problem in the first phase [February 2012], wherein nearly 5.1 lakh cards of the 3.76 crore did not get delivered. The number is high in the second phase as well, but this doesn't mean people have to re-apply for the UID,” said the official.

“This [loss of data and laptops] has happened across the country. The number in Maharashtra is not as high as 3 lakh as it being reported. The data of the applicants with the decryption failure will be re-attempted and reviewed,” said Rajesh Aggarwal, secretary, information technology department.