Chhattisgarh is among 22 States in the country where the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has launched ‘Challenge drive’ to enroll leftover population for providing Aadhaar number, the Central Government has informed.
The 22 States/UTs where Aadhaar saturation of adult population has crossed 100 per cent (as per projected population figure of 2015 are Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, lakshadweep, Puducherry, Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Andaman & Nicobar Island, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Goa, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh.
As on today, over 106.69 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated across the country.
The Challenge drive enrolment scheme will be only for adult population.
“The Challenge drive will ensure that nobody is left without an Aadhaar in these States/UTs which statistically have 100% Aadhaar saturation. The drive will start from October 15 to November 15, 2016.
This is in furtherance of the enrolment exercise to achieve universal coverage for Aadhaar across the country. All the eight Regional Offices of UIDAI have been directed to take up necessary media campaign in prominent local media and coordinate with respective State/UTs/NSRs/EAs for facilitating the enrollment of the resident registered under the Challenge drive and enroll infirm and elderly residents at home” informed Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO, UIDAI in an official press release.
In this drive, the enrollment request of only persons over the age of 18 years will be accepted .
Card holders to receive ration without Aadhaar
In a bid to make the Public Distribution System (PDS) more efficient, the State Government is linking the Aadhaar number of beneficiaries with their ration cards.
However, if a beneficiary does not have Aadhaar number then also they will be provided monthly rations, officials said here on Friday.
Officials further informed that a circular in this regard has been released by Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection directorate from Indrawati Bhawan in Naya Raipur.
The circular mentioned that a few days back departmental website of Food Department had instructed to upload Aadhaar information of ration card holders. However, later on, complaints were received about inconvenience in ration distribution.
According to officials, those beneficiaries who have submitted their Aadhaar number need not submit it again. Those persons who have not submitted the Aadhaar number will have to do so.
In case the ration card holder does not have Aadhaar card number then the concerned officials will have to inform them about the nearest Aadhaar card registration center, the circular mentioned.
It further stated that the PDS shops after taking consent from the beneficiaries for using their Aadhaar number will have to store the information at shop level. The beneficiaries will also have to be informed about the benefits of core PDS through which in near future they will be able to collect ration from any ration shop across the State.