Prime Minister Narendra Modi reposes more faith in Aadhaar

The tardy progress in biometric enrolment for the National Population Register may be the reason why Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reposing more faith in the Unique Identification Authority of India, which is tasked with issuing a unique 12-digit 'Aadhaar' number to all Indian residents. Home ministry data shows that the National Population Register (NPR) project has managed less than 10% enrolment in key states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh. "If left to NPR, the biometric enrolments in these states will take 4-5 years to complete. That is quite slow," a senior official told ET, hinting at why Modi is set to give financial nod to UIDAI to fast-track the enrollments in these states.