Aadhar card the most widely held identification document with enrolment of 92 crore people

With a voluntary enrolment of 92 crore people, the Aadhaar card is now the most widely held identification document in the country besides perhaps being the sole ID for many of its holders, including many families below the poverty line.

In comparison, 5.7 crore people have passports, 17 crore people PAN cards, 60 crore voter ID cards, 15 crore ration cards and 17.3 crore driving licences.

Aadhaar has helped effect savings of Rs 2,600 crore by eliminating bogus claims in welfare schemes besides engendering greater transparency and consequently reducing corruption, reports from states and Union Territories show.

It is also delivering benefits in progarmmes tailored for the poor like MNREGA where 3 crore of 9 crore active workers have Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. One crore wage transactions have been remitted and the process has become more efficient and transparent with 87,000 banking correspondents providing village and neighbourhood-level micro ATM services.

Aadhar is particularly crucial for BPL families who are the primary beneficiaries of PMJDY and three pensions schemes run by the Centre — Atal Pension Yojana, PM Suraksha Bima Yojana and PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana --are linked to UID. The schemes, according to official sources, are intended to provide a wide coverage by way of insurance with small premiums, flagged by the government as a key policy goal.

Image credit: Indiatimes