Government starts process of generating Aadhaar numbers

NEW DELHI: The government has begun the process of generating ' Aadhaar' numbers for those people whose biometrics have already been captured under the National Population Register (NPR).

"Generation of Aadhaar numbers for residents whose biometrics have been captured for NPR has begun," Home Minister P Chidambaram said while presenting the progress report of his ministry recently.

The capturing of biometrics for NPR is in progress in Delhi, Manipur and Nagaland. It has also started in Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Orissa, Puducherry and West Bengal, he said.

The NPR contains details about specific characteristics of each individual along with photographs and finger biometrics of all those who are 18 years of age and above. The NPR, however, does not confer citizenship rights.

During the preparation of NPR, the enumerators will collect from each household 35 details related to total number of persons living there, their sex, number of dwelling rooms, number of married couples, source of drinking water, type of latrine, fuel used for cooking, type of floor, wall, roof, whether anyone owns car/two wheeler, anyone availing bank service among others.

The Unique Identification Authority of India ( UIDAI) is the issuing authority for 'Aadhaar' and has been established by the government to implement the NPR scheme and assign unique numbers to all citizens.