The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is targeting 80 per cent enrolment in the 51 districts covered by Aadhaar-based pilot projects by the end of this year. It plans to complete the enrolment by March-end. Tomorrow, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would launch the Aadhaar-enabled service delivery system in Dudu, Rajasthan.
Aadhaar-enabled applications would be used for pension and scholarship payments, as well as those under the Public Distribution System and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. It is expected with an increase in Aadhaar penetration, the system would also be extended to cover subsidy and entitlement payments.
While disclosing the details of the function to be held at Dudu, UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani said by 2014, at least one out of every two Indians would have Aadhaar numbers. He added tomorrow’s event would be attended by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. At the event, the prime minister would hand over the 210 millionth Aadhaar number.
Nilekani said the total enrolment for Aadhaar stood at 240 million, adding this would exceed 600 million by 2014.
Though Aadhaar enrolment has exceeded 50 per cent in many states, the number is very low in states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Till September, these states had recorded no enrolment.
UIDAI officials said according to a Cabinet decision, the authority had to cover 16 states, while other regions would be covered under the National Population Registry (NPR). A few of the low-penetration states were those covered under the NPR, and enrolment in these was expected to pick up pace soon, they added. The Aadhaar-based service delivery had already proved useful in the pilot projects underway, they said.
Also Read
Through a pilot project in Tumkur district of Karnataka, Indian Overseas Bank opened 40,000 accounts within a short period. Overall, 1,50,000 bank accounts have been opened through this mode across the country. On September 1, a pilot was launched in the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. The project covered 1,25,000 beneficiaries across 35,000 households and helped curb leakages in the Public Distribution System.
A pilot project in Mysore helped deliver 50,000 liquefied petroleum gas cylinders through Aadhaar authentication. A project in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, is targeting pension payment under five special assistance schemes, while another project for the direct transfer of government money to Aadhaar-enabled bank accounts has been implemented in Mandai block, West Tripura District.