Aadhaar numbers for all AP residents by 2012

HYDERABAD: At a pace of nine lakh numbers per day, the Unique Identification Authority of India has assigned the unique number to 5.3 crore Aadhaar applicants so far. In Andhra Pradesh, 1.75 crore numbers have been assigned till date.

Speaking at a lecture on Fundamentals of Aadhaar and its Ecosystem,� UIDAI assistant director-general Rajender Kumar sought to clarify the general misconception about the concept of Aadhaar. Aadhaar is a unique number generated for every person based on their biometrics, it is not a card, he explained while telling a lot of people approach the authorities demanding their card. “A letter will be sent to everyone once their numbers are generated, to communicate their unique identity number,” he said adding there wouldn’t be a card.

Will this mean that every resident will have to carry a piece of paper or memorize their identity numbers for a situation where they have to make use of their Aadhaar number? K Deva Rathana Kumar of the UIDAI regional office said there is a proposal to set up Aadhaar kiosks in all places, like ATMs. “Since the Aadhaar identification is based on biometrics of a person, the machine in the kiosk would scan their fingerprints, iris and generate a slip containing the UID number, similar to transaction slips generated by ATMs,” said Kumar. However, this is still just a proposal. Aadhaar was conceptualised to be a paperless identity.

However, the kiosks would help people have their unique identity in material form, the official said. Answering apprehensions about security concerns of the whole exercise, Sanjay Jain, chief product manager, UIDAI said utmost care is being taken to protect personal details given out by people. Even the local centres who enrol people for Aadhaar will not have access to personal details as everything is encrypted, he explained.

The officials were positive that the pace in which the work is progressing, the state will be able to enrol all residents of Andhra Pradesh by 2012. Arpita Saradhi, general manager, National Institute of Smart Government was also present.

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