BHUBANESWAR: Rigorous Aadhaar enrolment exercises notwithstanding, more than 60 per cent (pc) children up to the age of five years and nine pc in the 5-18 years age band in Odisha do not have a unique identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
On the other hand, Aadhaar enrolment has achieved 111.5 pc among the population aged above 18 years, while the overall registration stood at 102.02 pc.
This ambiguity in data related to the status of Aadhaar enrolment and authentication came to the fore during a recent high-level meeting chaired by chief secretary Manoj Ahuja. As per data presented by the deputy director general of UIDAI of regional office at Hyderabad, Aadhaar has been generated for 12,73,211 children of the projected population of 32,48,632, aged 0-5 years and 92,62,207 of 1,01,84,021 people, aged 5-18 years.
However, Aadhaar generation has been completed for 4.78 crore people out of the state’s projected population of 4.68 crore till May 31. The enrolment exceeded the age band of 18 years plus as Aadhaar has been generated for 3.72 crore against 3.34 crore people.
“This could be due to non-exclusion of data of people who have died. The UIDAI will initiate a verification exercise in the state starting from this month to check the status and weed out unclaimed data,” said an official who attended the meeting.
As per the district-wise Aadhaar saturation map for the 0-5 years age group, the enrolment for this age group is below 50 pc in 22 districts.
Expressing concern over the low Aadhaar saturation in the 0-5 years age group, which currently stands at only 39.2 pc, the chief secretary has directed officials to improve the coverage by ensuring Aadhaar enrolment at the time of birth, especially since around 93 pc of births in Odisha are institutional.
A recent amendment to the Registration of Births and Deaths (RBD) Act has mandated that the birth certificate would be the sole valid document for Aadhaar enrolment in this age category and any changes in records post-enrolment will be based solely on subsequent updates in the birth certificate.
“It has been decided that the process flow of the Odisha birth and death registration system will be revised in line with the RBD Act to ensure issuance of the birth certificate before the mother is discharged from the hospital enabling immediate Aadhaar enrolment along with the birth certificate,” the official said.
It has also been decided that the Women and Child Development and Health and Family Welfare departments in coordination with OCAC will organise enrolment camps at anganwadi centres and immunisation centres for Aadhaar enrolment of children.
Similarly, mandatory biometric updates for children below 18 years will be conducted in two phases - at the age of five years and 15 years.
Key finds
Aadhaar has been generated for over 12.73L children of the projected population of over 32.48L aged 0-5 yrs
Till May 31, Aadhaar generation has been completed for 4.78 cr people out of the state’s projected population of 4.68 cr
Enrolment exceeded age band of 18+ as Aadhaar has been generated for 3.72 cr against 3.34 cr people