New Delhi, Jan. 12 -- Every time I have to interact directly with the government, I wonder, "Why doesn't it like me?" I usually avoid direct contact. But unfortunately, for nearly two months, I have been trying to get an Aadhaar number for a minor. After giving her biometrics, it has been a tale of torment.

I learnt that the site of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has been partially down for months.

The site would have been kinder to me if it were entirely down, but its cruelty is in drawing me to fill out all the numbers, including the exact second when biometric data was given, and then saying, "We're unable to process your request due to temporary outages of our services."

For weeks, the same message. It's a vit...