Aadhaar Cards (Unique Identification Number) Enrollment project has been initiated in West Bengal during 2010. But the pace of the enrollment process in the state has been very slow and there is perceived indifference from the Govt. of West Bengal towards Aadhaar project implementation. The earlier Left Front Government was not much interested in the UID project. Only a few thousands of Aadhaar cards were issued so far. The chairman of the UIDAI, Nandan Nilekhani himself disclosed a few days back that the state of West Bengal is lagging behind in implementing Aadhaar project and it’s neighboring state Jharkhand is much ahead of the Bengal in enrolling the people.
Nilekani disclosed that West Bengal has issued 46,613 UID numbers till June 2011. The state is yet to get into the act of enrolling people for Aadhaar UID numbers. The numbers achieved so far by the West Bengal Government are the contribution of LIC of India, which is acting as an agency for registrering the people in the state.
Central Minister, Pranab Mukherjee has launched LIC – Aadhaar prject in West Bengal during February 2011. LIC is involved in delivering Unique 12 digit Identity Aadhaar numbers to the people across the country. Pranab Mukherjee has distributed Aadhaar Cards to the residents of Jangipur while launching the project. LIC is the first registrar of the Aadhhar UID Project to hand over these cards in the state. West Bengal has a long way to go to join the league of states such as Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi in implementing Aadhaar Project. The state has to open enrollment camps at the much populated areas and should create awareness among the public to enroll themselves for the UID Cards.