Aadhaar cards for children: Bengal ranks 10th

Kolkata: Bengal ranks 10th in the enrolment of Aadhaar cards for children in the age group of 0-5 years, said a recent report on Aadhaar enrolment from the Central government that reached the state secretariat Nabanna. Haryana leads the pack, with 68.8 per cent children of the age group enrolled with Aadhaar. It is followed by Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa.

Bengal, however, beats Haryana when it comes to the total number of children enrolled with Aadhaar. The former has a little over 17 lakh children enrolled with aadhar, which is lesser than that of Bengal.

Also, Bengal is ahead of Gujarat and its neigbouring states. Gujarat ranked 20th in the survey, against Bengal’s 10th.

“Our state has completed aadhar card enrolments for more than 49 per cent of children in the age group of 0-5 years, that accounts for a population of around 38.40 lakh. The total child population in this age group is a little over 77.56 lakh till 30th April 2017,” a top Nabanna official said.

In the overall enrolment, Bengal is in the 24th position with 91 per cent enrolment. As per latest figures, a little more than 8.8 crore people, out of a total population of 9.6 crore in Bengal have been enrolled.

Left Front ruled Tripura is ranked 25th, with 22.9 per cent enrolment. Neigbouring states Chattisgarh, Odisha and Assam ranked 11th, 16th, and 34th respectively. “Our government has taken a big stride to speed up the enrolment process of children. Now, enrolment will be carried out at the polio camps in the districts. The district administration has been directed by the state secretariat to make necessary arrangements for this,” the official added.