Aadhaar pre-enrollment date extended

The government on Friday decided to extend the provision of prior appointment particularly to encourage office goers for enrollment for the 12-digit Aadhaar number, being issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Delhi Government has set up booths across the city for recording bio-metric details of the residents.

The decision to offer prior appointment to the citizens was taken at a meeting presided over by Revenue Minister A K Walia whose department has been overseeing implementation of the ambitious project in the city. "Citizens will now be able to take prior appointment for recording of their bio-metric details and filling up of forms at the special kiosks," said an official who attended the meeting.

Unhappy with the pace of enrollment, the government last month had directed private firms engaged in the project to speed up the process. Out of city`s estimated population of 1,67,53,235, enrollment of only 45,57,458 (27 per cent) people have been completed for issuance of Aadhaar number, till third week of last month.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique number which the UIDAI is issuing for all residents in India. The UIDAI is storing basic demographic and biometric information - photograph, ten fingerprints and iris scan - of each individual, being issued the number, in a central database.