Norbu Sherpa, 21, travelled from Rimbick, about 90km from Darjeeling, on Sunday and stayed overnight at a hotel to be among the first in queue at the Darjeeling post office to register a name for Aadhaar card rectification.

Sherpa reached the locked gates of the post office at 5am on Monday, only to realise that he is not the first in the queue.

Roman Rai from Jorebunglow, about 10km from town, was there since 4am to rectify his mobile number details on the Aadhaar card.

“I came from Rimbick yesterday and stayed at a hotel. I have come here to get the age of my father corrected in the Aadhaar card,” Sherpa said.

Rai wanted to change his particulars in the card. “I used to work in Mumbai and had enlisted my previous number. I am updating my papers and I need to enlist my current number,” Rai said.

Citizens like Sherpa and Rai are compelled to walk the extra mile and devote so many hours because the Darjeeling post office enlists the names only on the first day of the month.

Such is the rush that the names registered on the first day of the month takes up the entire month for processing.

“We can process up to 30 Aadhaar applications in a day. If there is a technical breakdown, the entire list gets delayed,” said a post office official.

The Telegraph had earlier reported that the lack of a dedicated Aadhaar facilitation centre is creating problems for the people.

Apart from the post office, such a centre is available in only a couple of banks in Darjeeling. However, one of the banks has reported a technical snag.

The queue before the Darjeeling post was serpentine even before the gates opened at 9am.

Most standing for their turn had come for rectification. “Apart from setting up a dedicated centre for Aadhaar, it would be better if the government carries out a campaign in villages and different wards of Darjeeling like they had done when the Aadhaar enlistment had first started,” one person said.

Post office officials said that they were trying their best. “We are trying our best. The rush for Aadhaar sometimes affects our other activities. It would be good if other banks were also a bit aggressive with the Aadhaar initiative,” said an official.

Deepap Priya P, who has joined as Darjeeling district magistrate, had earlier told this newspaper that she had been informed of the problem.

“I just verified and we are planning to set up (a centre), most probably in the municipality. I think this has been a problem for long but we are working on it and we will be able to do it as soon as possible. We are talking to the co-ordinator and we will do it,” Priya said.