India: J&K govt to provide unique identification for over 200,000 Srinagar households

Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to provide UID (Unique Identification Number) to over 200,000 Srinagar households. The government said that this will help them store the data of every household including their address, number of family members, their electricity and water bills along with other necessary information.

According to the government, it's being done under the Digital India programme where all the details of the residents including the details of the property, like the nature of the property, dimensions of the property, and location will be saved.

However, the locals of Srinagar city are apprehensive that it is the first step towards implementation of the property tax in the valley.

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''Earlier, when you used to visit a government office you needed to give all your details and it would take hours. In digital time, there should be no need for that, we don't want any queues in offices, everything can be done online. We are number one in the number of online services provided in the Union territory. People need to be aware that they don't need to visit offices, but all services will be provided online. This will benefit the locals a lot. The idea is that locals need not come to us for work, while the government will go to them, '' said Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, JK.

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The Unique ID will be provided not only to the houses but also to commercial buildings, streets, and heritage sites. Srinagar Municipality Commissioner Ather Aamir said that every house in the city that falls under the jurisdiction of Srinagar will be given a unique ID number which will help to locate the address of any person easily while clearing that it has nothing to do with the property tax as that is a separate issue.

''We have done surveys of over 230,000 premises. We have checked whether the properties are residential or commercial. The drainage, water, and electricity system has been checked. We have numbered the streets. It's a digital planning of the city. Now we will put a metal board outside every house, and it will have a QR code, this will create a better system of planning. Tax is a separate part, irrespective of that. This is a modern way of improving services," said Athar Aamir, Commissioner, of Srinagar Municipality.

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Last year, when the UT government of Jammu and Kashmir announced the imposition of property tax in urban areas, the majority of the political parties, civil societies, and other trade unions opposed it.

Sensing that the situation may turn ugly the UT administration then put the decision on hold.

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Now that the government has started the process of providing UID and is registering all the details of Srinagar households, the property tax issues have been raised again. The move to issue a "Unique Identification Number" (UID) to the Srinagar residents has been criticised by the regional political parties as well.

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