The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given the approval for Phase 5 of the Unique Identification (UID) scheme to undertake enrolments in the four states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has been given the target of generating 100 crore Aadhaars by the end of 2015. This will also include UID numbers issued for enrolments done under the National Population Register process in 12 States and Union Territories allocated to UIDAI. UIDAI has also been asked to submit proposals regarding Aadhaar Sampark Kendra (Enquiry Centre/Customer Service Centre), Information, Education and Communication Campaigns, Document Management System and Rent Rates and Taxes, along with a revised cost estimate to the Expenditure Finance Committee. Phase 4 of UID (Aadhaar card) scheme had been approved by the government in May 2013 and Rs 3436.16 crore had been earmarked for it. Aadhaar numbers: Till January 16, 2014 UIDAI had issued 56 crore Aadhaar numbers. At the time it had claimed to be generating 13-14 lakh Aadhaar number everyday and was set to complete its mandate of covering 60 crore population. Before the start of Phase 5 over 67.38 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued, and a total of Rs 4906 crore (as of August 31, 2014) has been spent on this scheme till date. UIDAI started issuing Aadhaar numbers in September 2010 and managed to generate 25 crore numbers by December 2012 at an average of one crore numbers per month. During 2013, UIDAI issued a…
