88 lakh enrolled under Aadhaar in Odisha

As many as 88.42 lakh Aadhaar numbers have been generated in Odisha as against the state's population of 4,19,47,358.

The enrolment of residents and generation of Aadhaar number are going on across the country and there is no target for completion of these activities, said Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs and planning, Rajeev Shukla, in reply to a question from Rajya Sabha MP, Renubala Pradhan recently.

As on July 31, he said, a total of 39,36,23,859 Aadhaar numbers have been generated across the country.

Among the states, while the highest Aadhaar number of 65,941,390 has been generated in Andhra Pradesh, it is followed by Maharashtra (62, 697,942), Madhya Pradesh (27,773,394), Kerala (27,472,963), Karnataka (26,125,496), Rajasthan (25,550,302) and Tamil Nadu (24,452,774) (West Bengal (19,475,326), Punjab (18,252,336) and Delhi (14,475,326).

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) communicates the Aadhaar number through Aadhaar letters or e-Aadhaar letters. There is no provision of issue of Aadhaar cards, the minister clarified.

Enrolment for Aadhaar including data collection for the purpose was organised through Registrars and Enrolment Agencies (EA). As many as 43 Registrars and 139 EAs are undertaking enrolment across the country, the Union minister stated.

Aadhaar is a 12 digit unique identification number which identifies an individual on the basis of demographic information and biometric. It is issued to all residents including children, as a generic proof of identity and not limited to any specific purpose such as filing income returns or voting in elections.

Pointing out the difference between the Aadhaar, PAN and voter Identity cards, the minister said, Aadhaar uses biometric to check duplication which is not available with PAN and Voter Identity Cards (VIC).

Accordingly Aadhaar can be used for electronic/digital authentication while PAN and Voter Identity cards cannot be put to such use, he stated.