Hyderabad: Aadhaar enrolment has increased sharply in the two Telugu states, post demonetisation. With the Central and state governments linking Aadhaar to availing all government services and schemes and encouraging an Aadhaar-based payment system for cashless transactions, there is huge rush to enrol. Aadhaar enrolment and update requests are in the range of over 30,000 per day since demonetisation. While the Aadhaar enrolment of adults is huge, it is comparatively lower in the 0-18 age groups.
The governments of both TS and Andhra Pradesh had laid special emphasis on increasing Aadhaar enrolment in these groups by taking up special drives. According to UIDAI officials, both TS and AP figure in the top 10 list of states in overall Aadhaar enrolment but lag behind in the 0-5 and 5-18 age groups. Incidentally, officials suspect huge duplication in TS as the state has achieved saturation level of 102 per cent in overall Aadhaar enrolment, which is over and above the projected population. In case of AP, the saturation level is 97 per cent.
But when it comes to Aadhaar enrolment in the age group of 0-5 years, saturation levels in both the states are just 46.8 per cent and in 5-18 age group, it is 86.3 per cent. “After demonetisation, a huge rush is being witnessed for Aadhaar enrolment in both the states. The rush is more visible in the 0-5 and 5-18 age groups,” said M.V.S. Rami Reddy, deputy director general, UIDAI, Hyderabad.
He added, “This shows that parents have realised the importance of Aadhaar for children. In the adult groups, the requests are more for updating of Aadhaar details, especially change of address.” Officials said with schools insisting on Aadhaar for admissions and to appear for board exams besides all recruitment boards seeking Aadhaar numbers of applicants, there is a huge rush for Aadhaar in the 0-5 and 5-18 age groups. Even for claiming fee reimbursement, local scholarships or overseas education scholarships, Aadhaar is a must.
