KYC scan fails again and again on Naga man; Nagaland minister’s hilarious video raises a serious question

KYC verification is supposed to be one of those things you finish in a few seconds. Look at the camera, let the system scan your face or eyes and move on.But what happens when the scanner simply won’t recognise you?Nagaland minister Temjen Imna Along has shared a video that shows exactly that and, as usual, he found a way to make an awkward situation funny.The video shows a Naga man trying to complete an eye scan for KYC verification. The scan appears to fail repeatedly. At one point, people around him can be seen trying to hold his eyelids open so that the system can get a clearer view of his eye.The people around him laugh as they try again.Along kept his caption short: “Struggle is real.”And that pretty much sums up the video.On the surface, it is an amusing clip of someone fighting with a machine that simply won’t cooperate. But there is another side to it. If a person has to physically pull their eyelids open just to get a biometric system to recognise them, it does raise questions about how well such systems work for people with different physical features.

When a simple KYC check isn’t so simple

Biometric verification has become part of everyday life. It is used for identity checks, financial services and a growing number of digital processes.For most people, these checks are easy enough to forget about once they’re done. But a failed scan can turn a routine task into a surprisingly frustrating one.That’s what makes Along’s post relatable beyond the joke. The video doesn’t come with a long explanation about technology or digital inclusion. It simply shows what happened when the scanner couldn’t get the result it wanted.And the image is hard to miss: a man sitting there while people around him try to keep his eyes open long enough for the machine to do its job.

Temjen has joked about the “small eyes” stereotype before

This isn’t the first time Along has used humour to talk about a stereotype associated with people from Northeast India.In 2022, a video of the Nagaland minister talking about the popular “small eyes” stereotype went viral. Rather than getting defensive, he turned the subject into a joke of his own.He said people often remarked that people from the Northeast had smaller eyes. Then came his punchline: smaller eyes meant less dirt getting in, he joked, adding that it also made it easier to sleep during long programmes.The comment drew laughter and applause, and the clip spread widely on social media. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also shared it, calling Along “in full form”.Later that year, Along returned to the same joke in another social media post. Sharing a photograph, he wrote that his eyes might be small but he could still spot a camera from a mile away.That has become part of Along’s particular style online. He often takes something that could easily become an uncomfortable conversation and approaches it with humour instead.But this time, the machine becomes part of the jokeThat’s what makes the KYC clip slightly different.Here, Along isn’t simply joking about a stereotype. The video shows a real interaction between a person and a piece of technology.There is no indication from the video alone that the system was deliberately designed to exclude people from the Northeast. Nor does one failed scan prove that biometric technology generally cannot work for people with particular features.What it does show is much simpler: this particular verification attempt wasn’t working, and the people trying to complete it had to physically adjust the man’s eyes to get the scan done.That’s enough to make people wonder whether technology designed for large populations is always as straightforward for everyone as it is supposed to be.

The humour makes the problem easier to notice

Along could have posted a long explanation about biometric technology. He didn’t.Instead, he posted a short video and let people see the problem for themselves.That’s probably why the clip works so well on social media. You understand what is happening almost instantly. There’s no complicated explanation needed. The machine isn’t recognising the eye, everyone is trying to help, and eventually the man’s eyelids are being held open for the scanner.Funny? Yes.But also a little awkward.Because nobody should have to fight with a routine identity check simply because a machine isn’t getting the scan right.And perhaps that’s the part worth remembering after the laughter dies down. The video may be a joke, but the question it raises is fairly straightforward: if technology is meant to make everyday tasks easier, shouldn’t it be able to work for people with different faces and physical features too?For Along, as has happened before, humour has once again done the talking.