Recent data on UIDAI enrolment (till October 2013) reveals that eight States have achieved a saturation rate of over 75 per cent. Five of the States — Kerala, Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab — are among the top States on the human development index.
“Aadhaar enrolment is an indicator of well-governed States. These States take the lead irrespective of politics or political parties,” a senior UID official told The Hindu . The leading States include UPA-ruled States — Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim — the BJP-ruled State of Goa, and the Left-governed Tripura.
All southern states are in the medium to high level of saturation. Tamil Nadu stands at 45 per cent, Karnataka at 53 per cent, and Kerala and Andhra Pradesh at 87 per cent. “Andhra Pradesh took the lead and was one of the first few States to realise the potential of UID. Besides, big and small States have made huge progress. It is in the interest of State governments and their understanding of how Aadhaar can be leveraged,” the official added.
“Gujarat is in a funny situation as the State government bureaucrats are stuck thinking that they are already far too well governed,” the official said. The State has recorded a 29 per cent saturation rate, similar to West Bengal, which stands at 28 per cent.
Interestingly, population has not posed an impediment with Sikkim, a State with a population of around 6,00,000 and Andhra Pradesh that has a population of 84 million. Further, most States that have recorded high levels of saturation include high per capita income States, including Delhi, Goa and Sikkim.
Eight States which record a saturation rate of less than 10 per cent include Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir. All these States have per capita income (per capita State domestic product) lower than the national average of Rs. 68,757 in 2012-13. Additionally, according to the Human Development Report 2011, Bihar, U.P., Chhattisgarh ranked lowest on the Human Development Index.
