Aadhaar for 7.65 mn in Chandigarh region

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has so far enrolled 7.65 million people for Aadhaar card in four states and a union territory upcountry, prompting it to launch a special campaign to now cover the marginalised and socially disadvantaged sections of society in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. (The fourth state is Jammu and Kashmir.)

Further, the Chandigarh chapter of the government-appointed agency is planning to increase the number of enrolments in the region to 1 lakh a day from the present 80,000.

UIDAI’s Chandigarh regional office said it had generated 2.17 million Aadhaar cards so far after having enrolled 7.65 million people under its jurisdiction.

As for the just-started special drive to cover the marginalised and socially disadvantaged sections, the focus would be on slum dwellers, the deaf and dumb and special-category people, its deputy director general, Keshni Anand Arora, said on UIDIA’s first anniversary day.

“From today, the coming weeks would see the UIDAI covering areas like Jujharnagar in Mohali, Sanjay Gandhi nagar in Ludhiana, Krishna Nagar in Shimla, Tutikandi in Shimla and Blind School, Deaf and Dumb Home and slum areas of Chandigarh,” she told Business Standard. “We are seeking assistance of NGOs/employers, so that they can act as an introducer for migrant workers.”

Further, State Bank of Patiala would now start an enrolment process in all its branches in the region by opening extension counters for enrolling the people for Aadhaar numbers. “Already State Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Union Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce are working as registrars,” Arora added.

As for Himachal Pradesh, the hill state has made 1.95 million enrolments so far covering 29 per cent of its population. Down, in the plains, Punjab has touched 4.3 million covering 16 per cent of its population, while the figure is 650,000 for Haryana. Chandigarh has made 450,000 lakh enrolments, covering 44 per cent of the city’s total population. The border state of J&K, which went live on Aadhaar only recently, has made a beginning with 5,000 enrolments.

The Himachal Pradesh Information Technology department informed that the enrolment in the state’s Una and Hamirpur district would be completed by next month. The total population of these two districts is 9.60 lakh, and almost 93 per cent of population in Una and 90 per cent in Hamirpur has been enrolled under Aadhaar, IT state director Rajneesh Kumar said.

Outside the region, Andhra Pradesh has generated 1.28 crores Aadhaar numbers, Maharashtra 92.66 lakh and Karnataka 34.31 lakh. A total of 3.84 crore card numbers have been generated in the country and 10 crore enrolments have been made.