By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 7 Oct: Taking a serious note of the growing demographic change in Uttarakhand, the State Government has decided to digitalise the verification process of people residing in the state who have come from other parts of the country. In this regard, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has directed the Home Department to develop a dedicated mobile application to streamline and strengthen this process, which has often been hindered by manual and time-consuming procedures.
The Chief Minister has expressed a serious concern over rapid demographic changes taking place in the state and has now instructed that the police verification system be made more effective and foolproof. He emphasised that those arriving in Uttarakhand for work or residence must undergo proper verification to prevent misuse of identity documentation. Officials noted that individuals from outside states have, in several cases, managed to obtain Aadhaar Cards, Voter IDs, and Ration Cards on the basis of fake documents, which is influencing the demographic balance of the state.
In his directive to Home Secretary Shailesh Bagoli, Dhami stressed that the verification process should be both stricter and simpler for the local police to execute. The Government has acknowledged that police personnel, particularly in the plains districts, are often preoccupied with other duties, due to which verification exercises often remain confined to special drives only. During such campaigns, a large number of people, including Bangladeshi infiltrators, have been detected in districts such as Dehradun and Haridwar.
To address these challenges, the Home Department has now instructed the Police Administration to work with the IT Department in developing a digital application that will create a centralised database of all the persons entering to reside in the state. At present, verification records are maintained manually at the level of police stations and outposts without any unified system to integrate the data. The Police Headquarters has now begun collecting this information from all districts to prepare a consolidated database.
The official sources have also claimed that the trial of the new verification app is already underway and is expected to become fully operational by the end of this month. Inspector General of Police (IG), Kumaon Range, Ridhim Agarwal, who is supervising this project, has confirmed that technology is being harnessed to overcome the existing difficulties in the verification process. Once operational, this app will not only assist the police in maintaining accurate records but will also simplify formalities for those arriving from other cities.
In this respect, CM Dhami has reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to preserving the cultural and social identity of Uttarakhand which he says is Dev Bhoomi. He emphasises that the government is committed to preserving the culture of Dev Bhoomi. Verification has been made mandatory to know the background of people coming from outside cities or states. The government wants the verification process to be quick and efficient, which is why the Home Department has been asked to adopt modern technology.
