B Sivakumar, TNN | Oct 31, 2015, 03.25AM IST
CHENNAI: Eighty-eight percent of adults (above 18 years) in Tamil Nadu have registered for Aadhaar since 2010. This is the lowest among big states in the country. Registering a lower figure than Tamil Nadu are the northeastern states where the percentage is less than 70%. Across the country, 93% of adults have the Unique Identity - 'Aadhaar'.
Sixteen states and Union Territories have 100% registration and it is only in TN and Odisha that the percentage is low. UIDAI is now focusing on child enrolment, besides persuading those who have not registered, to enroll. In some states the registration has crossed 100%.
The Supreme Court on October 16 made it voluntary for people to register for Aadhaar. A constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India, H L Dattu, clarified that linking of Aadhaar for providing these services will only be on voluntary basis and no person shall be deprived of any benefit for want of Aadhaar. This could also have prevented many people from registering for Aadhaar.
Of the 24 states/UTs where UIDAI has been mandated to enrol and issue Aadhaar numbers, 16 have more than 100% adult population with Delhi at the top with 128% followed by Himachal Pradesh (111%), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (111%), Punjab (110%), Kerala and Haryana (109 % each), Chandigarh and Sikkim (107% each), Jharkhand, Goa and Puducherry (106% each),Tripura (105 %), Rajasthan (103%), Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra (101%).
"The 16 states/union territories have more than 100% registration of adults is due to the fact that the population figures are based on the Census of 2011, while Aadhaar is generated based on the real population which has increased in 2015 compared to 2011," said a UIDAI official.
In the state, the main reason for many adults not registering is migration. "In Tamil Nadu we have National Population Register (NPR) under which we register the entire family not an individual as it happens with Aadhaar. But each time a family comes for registration, the male member will be missing as he will be working in some other place," said Tamil Nadu Census department joint director M R V Krishna Rao.