Complete 'Aadhar' coverage in Karnataka by June next: CM

BANGALORE: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today said plans have been formulated to cover the entire state under the 'Aadhaar' project by June next year.

He said 3.2 crore people have so far enrolled for 'Aadhaar', and 2.41 crore of them have been issued 'Aadhaar' numbers.

"I had discussions with Nandan M Nilekani ( Chairman of UIDAI, which is implementing the project). Our aim is to speed up the project and cover the entire state by June 2014," Siddaramaiah told the Assembly during Question Hour.

He said 'Aadhaar' centres will be opened at 'Hobli' (clutch of surrounding villages) level.

N Cheluvarayaswamy (JD-S), who raised the issue, highlighted the problems caused to the public, specially to the rural masses, as there is heavy rush at these centres.

He demanded that the number of 'Aadhaar' centres need to be scaled up substantially.

According to the 'Medium Term Fiscal Plan 2013-2017' tabled in the Assembly, government is setting up Karnataka Resident Data Hub (KRDH), which will be a repository of the unique ID of all residents of the state.

The government has started UID-based delivery through seeding of 'Aadhaar' numbers for nearly 15 services offered by it in the districts of Mysore, Tumkur and Dharwad.

This aims to enable the government preventing pilferages in the system and ensure better targeting of benefits to residents of Karnataka.