Approval to proposal for reallocation of States for Aadhaar enrolment

The Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India (CC UIDAI) today approved reallocation of States for Aadhar enrolment. It was decided that in four States, which are, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, UIDAI will carry out the enrolment exercise in addition to enrolment carried out by the Registrar General of India (RGI); and that UIDAI and RGI will work out modalities to ensure that there is no duplication in collection of biometrics. It was further decided that enrolments by UIDAI will commence immediately and that UIDAI will separately submit financial proposals to the Ministry of Finance in respect of the additional enrolments.

Background:

The UIDAI was established in 2009 with a mandate to generate and assign unique identity numbers for residents of India. In January 2012, CC UIDAI had allocated 18 States / Union Territories for Aadhaar enrolment by UIDAI in addition to the RGI under the National Population Register (NPR) process. In the remaining States and UTs enrolments were to be carried out exclusively by RGI.

More than 57 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated by UIDAI since August 2010, when the first such Aadhaar was generated. An increasing level of Aadhaar saturation in various districts has facilitated the roll-out of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and DBTL programmes in selected districts. A major constraint in further expansion of these programmes relates to lower levels of Aadhaar saturation in the remaining States / UTs. An urgent need has been felt to increase the pace of Aadhaar enrolments in other States to-enable a rapid roll out of DBTL. The reallocation of States for Aadhaar enrolments is also expected to ensure that capacities created by UIDAI for enrolments and back-end processing are utilized optimally.

The UIDAI project aims to ensure inclusive growth by providing digital and verifiable identity to all residents, including marginalized sections of society. Besides strengthening equity, UIDAI will also enable more efficient delivery of services and effective governance. Presently, DBTL is in operation for 28 centrally sponsored schemes in 121 districts and DBTL has been rolled out in 291 districts in phases. The enhanced Aadhaar saturation level in the four highly populated States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand will enable roll-out of DBTL schemes in these States as well.

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SC/VK