Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will launch Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery on October 20 in Dudu, Rajasthan marking the 2nd anniversary of Aadhaar
The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will launch Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery on October 20 in Dudu, Rajasthan, marking the 2nd anniversary of Aadhaar. The Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery application utilizes an Aadhaar number’s property of uniqueness and linkage with various government schemes/ services database to correctly identify beneficiaries. There are many benefits associated with such integration for various stakeholders, ranging from better compliance management to reduced leakages and increased efficiency and accountability in service delivery. The 21st crore Aadhaar letter will also be handed over to a resident, on the occasion.
“I thank Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi for their guidance and unstinted support for the Aadhaar project. I am also grateful to Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram for his support in leveraging Aadhaar as a means for financial inclusion. Aadhaar as the foundation of electronic transfer of benefits to beneficiaries of various social sector schemes should yield significant benefits” said Shri Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, UIDAI addressing a press conference in New Delhi today.
The Government is rolling out Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery initiatives in 51 districts across the country. Aadhaar-enabled applications will be used for making pension payments, MNREGA payments, PDS distribution, scholarship payments, etc.
“We are very excited about the future of Aadhaar, given the fact that we are about to launch Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery. Aadhaar is an online identity platform that can be accessed in real-time for authenticating beneficiaries and can be adapted by various user agencies, which creates scope to dramatically improve the manner in which social sector schemes are administered,” said Shri R.S. Sharma, Director General & Mission Director, UIDAI on the occasion.
The launch of Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery will be in the presence of Smt. Sonia Gandhi, UPA Chairperson; Chief Minister of Rajasthan Shri Ashok Gehlot; Finance Minister Shri P.Chidambaram; Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia; Minister of State for Planning, Science & Technology, Earth Sciences Dr. Ashwani Kumar and Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology Shri Sachin Pilot.
On the occasion of the launch, ongoing Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery pilots of PDS in Kakinada, East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh; Social Security payment in Aurangabad, Maharashtra; LPG cylinders delivery in Mysore, Karnataka; MNREGS payment in Ramgarh, Jharkhand and Old Age Pension payments in West Tripura district of Tripura will be telecast live. The Prime Minister will also be presenting the Aadhaar Governance Awards and the Aadhaar Excellence Awards.
Highlights of the two years of Aadhaar are:
a. 21 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated in 2 years: The 21st crore Aadhaar number will be handed over to a resident in a short span of two years. UIDAI has generated 21 crore Aadhaar numbers since the issuance of the first number on Sep 29, 2010.
b. Aadhaar, a platform for multiple service delivery: The Aadhaar platform is being used across schemes to make pension payments, MNREGA wage payments, PDS distribution as well as scholarship payments.
c. Geographical diversity: Aadhaar enrolments are happening across the length and breadth of the country, from Tripura to Rajasthan and from Delhi to Kerala.
It’s been two years since Aadhaar the 12-digit unique identity number was launched, in a bid to provide an irrefutable proof of identity to all residents of India. It was to be an identity, which would be valid across the nation and hold good while availing various benefits and services that require a person to authenticate his/her identity.
In the past two years, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has worked hard to make this vision come true. During the first phase of enrolments, UIDAI with the help of its Registrars and other stakeholders, managed to enroll 20 crore residents well before the set deadline. This has made Aadhaar the world’s largest biometric-based identity database. Having concluded 20 crore enrolments, UIDAI was given the mandate to enroll a further 40 crore enrolments by 2014.
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