Chief Secretary Arun Mehta Assesses Progress of Aadhaar Penetration in J&K

GG News Bureau

Jammu, 9th Dec. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta urged all stakeholders on Thursday to complete 100 percent Aadhaar penetration across Jammu and Kashmir, emphasising that the Union Territory has completely shifted to digital means by offering all citizen-centric services online, and Aadhaar is required to access those services.

The Chief Secretary made these remarks while chairing a meeting at the Civil Secretariat in Jammu to review Aadhaar saturation across Jammu and Kashmir.

The meeting was attended in person and via video conferencing by Principal Secretary, PDD, H Rajesh Prasad; Commissioner Secretary, Forests, Sanjeev Verma; Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, P.K Pole; Commissioner Secretary, Information Technology, Prerna Puri; Secretary Health and Medical Education, Bhupinder Kumar; Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Ramesh Kumar, CGM, BSNL, all Deputy Commissioners, and other concerned officers.

In his address to the officers, Mehta stated, “Aadhaar is a unique identity of every citizen through which they can avail any government service in a hassle-free manner.”

He directed all Deputy Commissioners to conduct Aadhaar saturation missions in order to provide people with effective and efficient public services.

The Chief Secretary directed the DCs to develop a re-deployment strategy to maximise the use of Aadhaar stations in order to achieve 100% penetration.

“Mobilise people to Aadhaar stations through awareness campaigns, and local representatives”, Mehta instructed the DCs.

The Chief Secretary also directed the DCs to hold regular District Level Aadhaar Monitoring Committee meetings in order to assess the need for additional enrollment and update centres on a timely basis and to ensure the availability of these centres in underserved areas.

He directed officers to begin Aadhaar Linked Birth Registration (ALBR) in all district hospitals by the 15th of this month, followed by the launch of the Civil Registration System (CRS) across Jammu and Kashmir by the end of this month.

During the meeting, Commissioner Secretary Information Technology stated that overall Aadhaar saturation in Jammu and Kashmir has increased from 81% to 89% in the last year, with approximately 1.21 crore Aadhaars generated to date.

She also informed the meeting that the number of operational Aadhaar centres in the UT has increased from 331 to 1105, with an additional 250 enrollment stations set to open in January 2023.

Meanwhile, Mehta reviewed the progress of BSNL’s 4G connectivity saturation across the 410 sites of Jammu and Kashmir under the Ministry of Communications, Government of India’s Universal Service Obligation Fund.

During the meeting, the Chief Secretary directed all the DCs to quickly transfer the land of these sites to BSNL so that better connectivity can be provided to all of Jammu and Kashmir’s remote areas.

“Pendencies should be cleared expeditiously by prioritising uncovered areas,” Mehta directed the DCs.

The Chief Secretary also directed the DCs and officers of BSNL to conduct a joint survey of pending sites within a week so that construction of towers and other infrastructure can begin on time.

CGM and BSNL provided a detailed briefing on 4G saturation in Jammu and Kashmir during the meeting.