Till Date About 93 Per Cent of the Adult Residents in India Aquired Unique Identity – Aadhaar on Their own Volition

Till Date About 93 Per Cent of the Adult Residents in India Aquired Unique Identity – Aadhaar on Their own Volition 

Till now, it is found that 93 per cent of the adult residents in India voluntarily acquired and possess Unique Identity – ‘Aadhaar’. To achieve universal Aadhaar coverage, the UIDAI is now focusing on Child enrolment, besides mopping up remaining persons. 

UIDAI having issued first Aadhaar number on 29th September 2010, has till date generated more than 92.68 crore Aadhaar in just five years time. This success has been possible due to people’s voluntary quest to empower themselves with the unique identity that is portable and authenticable online anywhere, anytime on a digital platform. It has been established in no uncertain terms that nobody can fake anybody’s Aadhaar established identity on authentication. Hence, the targeted delivery of direct benefits under various welfare schemes and programmes became a dream come true with Aadhaar proving itself as a strategic policy tool for social and financial inclusion, increasing convenience and promoting hassle-free people-centric governance.

Out of the 24 States/UTs where UIDAI has been mandated to enrol and issue Aadhaar numbers, it is found that 16 states/UTs have more than 100 per cent adult population saturation with Delhi on the top with 128% followed by Himachal Pradesh (111%), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (111%), Punjab (110%), Kerala and Haryana (109 % each), Chandigarh and Sikkim (107% each), Jharkhand, Goa and Puducherry (106% each),Tripura (105 %), Rajasthan (103%), Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra (101%); 5 states/UTs have above 90 per cent adult saturation with Andaman and Nicobar Islands (97%), Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh (96% each), Uttarakhand (93%) and Uttar Pradesh (91%); and 3 states have above 80 per cent adult population saturation with Gujarat (89%), Daman and Diu (82%) and Bihar (80%). In all in States/UTs assigned for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Aadhaar saturation among adult population is 98 per cent.

In other 12 States/UTs which are being covered by RGI for enrolment has an overall 76 per cent saturation with Lakshadweep (109%), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (103%), West Bengal (89%), Odisha and Tamil Nadu (88% each), Manipur (65%), Nagaland and Jammu & Kashmir (63% each), Arunachal Pradesh (50%) and Mizoram (46%). In two of the RGI States namely Assam and Meghalaya, there are some local issues which have resulted in low saturation.

It may be pertinent to mention here that there are 18 States/UTs in total having more than 100 per cent Aadhaar adult population saturation. One may wonder as to how more than 100 per cent Aadhaar can be generated in a State/UT.

That is due to the fact that the population figures are based on the Census of 2011, while Aadhaar are generated to the real population which has increased by 2015. That is, the base (divider) is taken as the population based on 2011census.

Migratory population from other states could also enroll in these States/UTs with more than 100 per cent Aadhaar adult population saturation. Actually, Aadhaar is a unique lifelong identity, which is available free of cost and any individual irrespective of age and gender and who is a resident in India and satisfies the verification process laid down by the UIDAI, can enroll for Aadhaar on a voluntary basis anywhere in the country.