Sunitha Rao R,TNN | Sep 11, 2015, 10.35 AM IST
BENGALURU: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) crossed yet another milestone this week with 91 crore Aadhaar registrations across the country. Simply put, it has generated Aadhaar numbers for more than 70% of Indians in the past five years. In Karnataka, the number stands at 5.07 crore.
UIDAI authorities, however, said not all citizens who have registered have got Aadhaar cards. "Of the 91crore unique identification numbers generated, over 80% citizens have got the cards," a senior UIDAI officer told TOI. The first Aadhaar card was generated in Maharashtra in September 2010. Even as scores of citizens are in the queue, UIDAI is preparing to host an event when it touches the 100-crore mark.
While Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of Aadhaar card holders (12.86 crore), Karnataka occupies the eight spot with 5.07 crore numbers processed. As per data available with TOI, the highest number of registrations in the state has been in Bengaluru, Bengaluru Rural, Belagavi, Mysuru and Tumakuru.
While Bengaluru tops the Karnataka list with 73,77,435 registrations, Kodagu is at the bottom with only 4,33,390.
The ambitious project, which was rolled out with the objective of enabling identification for every Indian resident, is on the right track, say statistics. "The target was to reach 100 crore by the end of 2015 and we are almost there," said a senior officer.
In the past 10 months, there have been over 50 lakh Aadhaar registrations, said Ashok Lenin, deputy director, UIDAI.
"Till October 2014, 74% of the state's population was covered under Aadhaar. By August 2015, the figure went up to 83%," said Lenin. As per census 2011, Karnataka's population was 6.11 crore.
According to UIDAI, measures taken to increase the number of processing centres or registrars have enabled speedy disposal of applications, a process earlier restricted to post offices.