26/11: No biometric card issued in 4 years

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, Nov 26, 2012: One more anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack had quietly passed away on Monday and the lone survivor of the attack, Pakistan based Ajmal Kasab too was hanged to death but the proposal to issue biometric identity cards to fishermen along the coast line covering three districts of north Andhra to beef up coastal security has not yet seen the light.

Not a single such card was issued even four years after the directive by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to all the state fisheries departments to issue cards through the Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL).  The scheme for issuing biometric identity cards for fishermen in the state has been launched as part of MHA directive to keep vigil along the coasts in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.

Three deadlines by the state fisheries department were ignored by the local officials and the result is that no fishermen was issued these cards due to which surveillance teams guarding Vizag coastline are facing it difficult to keep a tab on fishermen.

It is to be noted here that 26/11 terrorists had entered into Indian territory at Mumbai through sea reportedly in fishing boats and in the guise of fishermen.

Vizag has been always under terror radar due to presence of Eastern Naval Command head quarters and other strategic security establishments. State office set a deadline of August in 2009 to finish the process and issue cards. Later deadline was extended to October. “I agree there is an abnormal delay in issuing these cards. We have done our part in coordinating fishermen and organsing periodical camps in collecting various details and capturing photos of local fisherfolk. Now it’s ECIL, which has to issue the cards. ECIL representatives said these cards would be issued by December end this year,” Fisheries department joint director, P Koteswara Rao told this correspondent.

Several teams of ECIL and fisheries department, have already collected details and data related to fisherfolk in the three districts of north Andhra.  The ID card is supposed to have details like the name of the fisherman, parents' names, address, educational qualification, numbers of ration and voter ID cards. 

ECIL teams could capture photographs and take details of around 25,081 fishermen in Vizag, 37,906 in Srikakulam and 4,683 fishermen in Viziangaram districts.

Until now, details of only 76 percent of the fisherfolk in Vizag, 73 percent in Srikakulam and 52 percent in Viziangaram were collected.

“It was the poor turnout by the fisherfolk during the regular camps conducted to take details was delaying the whole process. The process has already reached the final stage of taking digital signatures and we are confident of issuing these cards very soon,” said an ECIL official.