With the distribution of some 10 crore Aadhaar cards, Maharashtra has become one of the leading states to implement the scheme. The remaining 1.25 crore cards will be distributed by March 2016, state officials told the PMO in a video conferencing held last week. The state has also announced a drive to make Aadhaar cards for children below the age of five.
“We have informed the PMO about our progress of having distributed 10 crore Aadhaar cards. Maharashtra is one of the leading states in implementing the scheme. We have also promised to complete the remaining 1.25 crore cards by March 2016,” chief secretary Swadhin Kshatriya who attended the video conferencing with the PMO officials said. The meeting was held to review the implementation of the scheme across the country.
The PMO also made some amendments in the implementation of the scheme for children below five years. The amendments came after complaints from the states that the fingerprints of children change as they grow and also their features. “The PMO has allowed us to take photographs of the children along with their parents for easy recognition. Their biometric is not required,” Mr Kshatriya said.
The state is taking help from anganwadis to get Aadhaar cards for children below five. “Drives will be conducted with the help of anganwadi workers for the children. We will give them tablets to feed the required information,” he said.
The state will also focus on giving Aadhaar cards to children between five and 18. “We want the school children to register for the Aadhaar cards. We are procuring 2,000 machines to feed the data. We will also make available 800 tablets to feed the data of the children,” he added.
