The biggest challenge the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) faces is reaching out to the 5-10 per cent of population living in hinterlands and in some other areas that are not covered well in the nationwide roll-out.

Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of UIDAI, said reaching out to this 5-10 per cent is a difficult task. The authority has targeted 60 crore people by the end of 2014.

“We have a capacity to cover 20 crore people a year. We have so far covered 45 crore and issued numbers to 37 crore ,” he said.

To reach out to the remote areas, the Authority will launch a pincode-based drive. It will use IT solution for filtering the whole database.

“We will identify which are the villages that registered less enrolments and launch special drive to increase the numbers,” he said.

Nilekani was here on Friday to review the progress of Aadhaar programme in Andhra Pradesh. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy; Information Technology Minister, Ponnala Lakshmaiah; and Civil Supplies Minister, D. Sridharbabu, were also present at the review meeting, where they discussed the enrolment, linkage with delivery of welfare schemes and challenges.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Nilekani said Andhra Pradesh led the country with enrolment of eight crore people. It has got 6.3 crore cards so far.

“Enrolments are highest in Andhra Pradesh. They are saying they are going to complete the remaining part in the next four months,” he said.

Responding to a query on inordinate delays in processing and delivering the numbers, he said: “This is a large project. There are some challenges. There is a backlog,” he said.

>kurmanath.kanchi@thehindu.co.in

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