60% rise in Aadhaar enrolment in December alone

BENGALURU: There has been a sharp surge in the number of people enrolling for Aadhaar following demonetisation last November and the Centre's push to facilitate Aadhaar number-enabled financial transactions through mobile phones as part of its drive aiming for a cashless economy.

Statistics from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) available with TOI reveals that the monthly Aadhaar enrolment during December 2016 for the entire country saw a 60% rise compared to the previous month. While in October 12.19 million people enrolled for Aadhaar, the figure dropped to 10.49 million in November. But December saw a sharp surge with 16.05 million enrolling for the card, the highest enrollment for a month in 2016.

Speaking to TOI, a senior UIDAI official said, "Even in January 2017, over 3.63 million people enrolled for Aadhaar by the first week itself. All this has taken the total number of Aadhaar enrolments in the country to 110 crore, translating into 98% coverage of adult population. The reason for the sudden rise in the enrolment numbers in December could be attributed to the after-effects of demonetisation with people possibly realizing that having Aadhaar could come in handy for several purposes such as bank transactions or as a document proof with various service providers. There is peer pressure as well."


The official further said people are also looking at the future where most financial transactions are slated to become Aadhaar-enabled, which will be card-less and pin-less, like the BHIM App.

Another reason is there is no charge for Aadhaar card and there are less procedural delays involved. So, there is an eagerness across urban and rural areas to get Aadhaar," he added

Enrolment centres strengthened
When TOI visited the UIDAI regional office on Race Course Road in Bengaluru on Tuesday , over 50 people had queued up with queries about Aadhaar enrolment, making changes in the card and to check when their Aadhaar cards would be delivered. "Post demonetisation, we see about 300-400 people visiting our office with various queries every day , up from 100 or so earlier. This shows how the demand for Aadhaar has gone up. We have strengthened the enrolment centres across the city so that more people can enroll," said an official. Suman NB, a food delivery boy and a resident of Rajajinagar in west Bengaluru, said he was not keen on Aadhaar initially. "Recently, I came to know that employers ask for Aadhaar details when you apply for a job. Also, Aadhaar is increasingly becoming inevitable for bank and other financial transactions. I applied for it in December and came here as I was curious to know the status of the enrolment," Suman said.