Hyderabad, April 15
Can any official goof-up get as bizarre as this? The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has issued an Aadhaar card in the name of a coriander leaf!

The blooper occurred in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. An Aadhaar card, bearing the number 49911866 5246, was issued in the name of Mr Kothimeer (coriander), son of Mr ‘Pulav’. In the address section, it was mentioned as Gongura Thota (Hibiscus Cannabinus), 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 faux pas was noticed when a postman 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 job have no understanding of the job,” said Opposition Telugu Desam Party MLA from the district P Keshav.

The embarrassed revenue officials said that they would trace out the agency that completed the enumeration work in Jambuladinne to fix the responsibility for the goof-up.

The postman, who first saw the strange address on the card, was astonished and later had a hearty laugh.

An official at the Hyderabad centre of UIDAI said that such a card could be a prank 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.