14 years on, first Aadhaar recipient recalls ‘false show’ of publicity
The HinduAfter an eight-hour drive from Mumbai, it is not difficult to find where Ranjana Sonawane lives in Tembhli village in the Shahada taluka of Nandurbar district in Maharashtra. Popularly known as the ‘Aadhaar card woman’, Ms. Sonawane’s village is 43 km from Nandurbar town and some 416 km from Mumbai. Ms. Sonawane was the first person to receive an Aadhaar card on September 29, 2010, at the launch of the Aadhaar programme by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Recalling the days before the Aadhaar card was launched in the village, Ms. Sonawane said those days were like a 15-day festival ahead of the event. I have visited multiple government offices showing my Aadhaar card and the picture with Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh enquiring about schemes, scholarships for my children’s education and financial benefits that I can avail but they send me off.” Today, Ms. Sonawane’s neighbours and relatives smirk at her situation.
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