From Canada to Mangaluru - all for his mom's Aadhaar card

Sixty eight year old Trevor D'Souza, a marine engineer by profession, came down all the way from Toronto in Canada to Mangaluru just to get Aadhaar card for his 101-year-old mother Gladys D'Souza, who stays in an old age home in City.

"As I could not transfer money from my mom's account in SBI to the senior citizen's home account, which is also in the same branch of SBI (reportedly due to non-submission of KYC details), I came all the way from Canada to set right the anomalies," he told DH.

Soon afterwords, he tried his level best to get Aadhaar card for his 101 year old mother, who can not move from senior citizen's home at Pandeshwar in City.

To his dismay, he was told in the DC office that he will have to get his ailing mother to the DC office. Meanwhile, his efforts to appeal senior citizen’s helpline (1090) as well as Department of Women & Child at Urwa too was of no help, said another senior citizen I J S Shet, who accompanied Trevor to these offices.

In fact, Trevor was amused to see a list of senior citizens displayed in DC office who are in queue for the same problem.

When contacted, Additional Deputy Commissioner Kumar told DH that the government has recently withdrawn the facility wherein the equipment could be taken out to a particular place, specially for those who are unable to move or go to Aadhaar enrolement office.

"As of now, besides DC office and taluk office, the facility is available at 17 Naada Kacheris and Mangalore One centres," he said and added that a special Aadhaar Adalat is planned between December 4 and December 8 at Town Hall in City for those who can not go Aadhaar centres without easy access (for example staircase).

Centenarian Gladys has been living in Mangaluru since 2008, as she was not comfortable and happy in Canada and the US as the cold conditions there did not suit her life style. In fact, Trevor is worried that if he can not get Aadhaar card by this month end, he will not be able to transfer money to his mom's caretakers.

Quite interestingly, Gladys is a cancer survivor. As recently as 2015, she was diagnosed with cancer of the breast and treated at Fr Muller's hospital with the support of city's leading oncologists. Though at one stage it seemed a lost battle, the fighter of big battles that Great Grand Mother Gladys has survived and hopes to survive the Aadhaar conundrum as well, with the help of the DK district administration, before the authorities concerned delink the accounts on December 31, 2017.