The census has successfully reached its completion stage but the unique identification number (UID) or Aadhar project is running far behind its schedule. Four months since the inception of UID in city, not even 10% of the population has been enrolled.
The exercise was flagged in the city from January 26. However, so far a paltry 2.6% or 3.32 lakh people, out of the 1.2 crore population, have been enrolled.
There are four enrollment agencies operating across the city. Whereas every centre is expected to enroll 250 people per day, according to the figures of people being enrolled in UID, less than 125 people are being registered daily. Against the population of 31 lakhs, just 43,065 people have been enrolled for UID in the island city. The figures are relatively better in suburban Mumbai.
The western suburbs have 1.58 lakh people enrolled. While the highest enrollment rate have been witnessed in central suburbs with 1.76 lakhs of people.
Also all enrollment centres are not operational yet. At present, out of the proposed 146 UID centres, only 134 have been activated.
“The major glitch is with the enrollment agencies. The agencies don’t have adequate staff to carry out UID,” added a senior civic official.
Moreover, several centres don’t even have the required infrastructure and machinery to carry out the enrollment.
Meanwhile the BMC is keen on meeting the deadline. The official added that the civic body will soon prepare brochures for the people stating why it is mandatory for them to get enrolled for the bio-metric identification process.
The UID project in the city wraps up on March 31 next year. The Municipal Commissioner Subodh Kumar, has set timelines for the enrollment agencies. The commissioner had stated that the enrollment by agencies ought to cover 20% of the city’s population by June 30.
