How many Aadhaar numbers in India? Find out here

A huge number of Aadhaar numbers have been generated in India with the country looking to cover each and every person, including children. However, the process is long and there are still crores of people without an Aadhaar number. To solve that problem and hurry up the process, new Aadhaar centres are planned and that is likely to bring them nearer to people's homes. The process itself is easy, however, there are problems of access and these too are being targetted by the government.

In its latest initiative, it has been revealed that the government is all set to roll out new Aadhaar enrolment and update centres in various regions to provide easier access to everyone concerned and achieve the goal of full coverage of the population. Aadhaar number is extremely critical as it serves as the single most important form of identification for the government to direct various welfare schemes at the people that need them the most. The Aadhaar number also ensures that the benefits reach the needy persons and is not siphoned off by corrupt officials or other intermediaries as was happening in earlier periods.

So, what kind of progress has been made by the government in issuing Aadhaar numbers? It has been revealed that, as on date, over 130.9 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated across the country. To ensure even greater coverage, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) plans to open 166 more standalone Aadhaar enrolment and update centres. This was revealed by an official statement said on Saturday.

At present, 55 Aadhaar Seva Kendra (ASKs) out of the 166 planned centres are operational in addition to about 52,000 Aadhaar enrolment centres run by banks, post offices and state governments.

"UIDAI plans to open 166 stand-alone Aadhaar Enrolment and Update Centres in 122 cities across the country," the statement said.

The ASKs are open on all days of the week and have so far catered to over 70 lakh residents including Divyang persons.

The operational centres have a capacity to handle up to 1,000 enrolments and update requests per day for Model-A ASKs, upto 500 enrolments and update requests per day for Model B ASKs and up to 250 enrolments and update requests per day for Model C ASKs.