Mumbai among 5 Maharashtra districts to use Aadhaar

Of the 50 districts in the country where Aadhaar will be implemented, five are from Maharashtra.

Though enrolments are currently voluntary, once Aadhaar comes into force, it will be mandatory to quote the number while drawing salaries in government jobs and investing in government schemes and while making electronic payments. Those buying or dealing in property will be encouraged to use Aadhaar to prevent frauds.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit individual identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on behalf of the Indian government.

Apart from Mumbai and suburbs, Aadhaar will be implemented in Pune, Nandurba, Amravati and Wardha districts. The number will serve as a proof of identity and address throughout the country. Any Indian, irrespective of age or gender, can enrol for Aadhaar if he/she clears the UIDAI verification process.

Districts that have 70% of its people already enrolled will be encouraged to use Aadhaar and for districts with 90%, it will be mandatory, Rajesh Agarwal, state information and technology secretary,  said.

The implementation will be done in phases. “We will start with salaries and pensions,” Agarwal said. The government also wants to connect the registration and stamp duty while buying houses or land with Aadhaar. “Right now it won’t be compulsory to use Aadhaar for registration, but we will definitely launch a project in the next three months to get people to enrol for it,” S Chokalingam, inspector general of registration, said.

“The number of the beneficiaries under the Sanjay Gandhi pension scheme has come down to 14,000 from 18,000 in Aurangabad once it became compulsory to use Aadhaar,” an IT department official said.