Over Rs 980 crore spent on Aadhaar enrolments, updates since 2019-20: Govt

Over Rs 980 crore has been spent by the UIDAI in the last three years on Aadhaar enrolments and updates, while nearly 5.99 lakh Aadhaars have been cancelled for being duplicate and for other reasons as of May 31, 2022.

As per government data, expenditure of Rs 141.60 crore, Rs 320 crore and Rs 519.9 crore were incurred in Aadhaar enrolments and updates in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively.

Officials said that the UIDAI has taken adequate steps to address duplicate or multiple Aadhaar generation issues and regular efforts are made to upgrade systems and procedures. The demographic matching mechanism has been further strengthened, biometric matching of all new enrolments is ensured and 'Face' has been included as a new modality (in addition to fingerprint and iris) for de-duplication.

Moreover, the UIDAI, through its registrars, ensures provision for Aadhaar enrollment and updates to residents. As on June 30, more than 57,000 Aadhaar centres are active across the country, while around 34,500 tablet and mobile-based machines are also functional in the field which is used for updating mobile number or email id in Aadhaar and to provide facility for Aadhaar enrolment for children under the age group of 0-5.

Besides, the UIDAI also permits residents to update their demographic details such as Name (minor change), date of birth, gender, and address online through myAadhaar portal.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar told Parliament on Wednesday that the UIDAI has abided with the directions of the Supreme Court in its judgment dated September 26, 2018, and the necessary amendments have been made in the Aadhaar Act, 2016, by way of the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019.

A child shall not be denied any subsidy, benefit or service under that section in case of failure to establish his identity by undergoing authentication, or furnishing proof of possession of Aadhaar number, or in the case of a child to whom no Aadhaar has been assigned, producing an application for enrolment, he told the Lok Sabha.

--IANS

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