Dear Comrades,
PATNA: Over 40,000 Biharis now have their own unique identity numbers within less than three months of the launch of biometric unique identity card (UID) centres in the state by the postal department.
UID is a random 10-digit alphanumeric identity number for every Indian citizen; it stores basic demographic and biometric details of the holder in a centralized database. It can be used for availing any government or private service like opening a bank account or booking tickets on the internet.
In the last three months, over six lakh forms were distributed in the state to apply for issuance of UID numbers. Out of them, 2.6 lakh applicants have completed their registration formalities.
In Patna alone, over 16,000 UID applicants have been delivered their cards so far. While three lakh forms have been distributed in the city, more than 40,000 applicants have completed their registration process. Among different districts in the state, Purnia has topped in the delivery of UID cards, having distributed more than 20,000 UID cards till date.
Currently, there are as many as 70 UID card centres in the state. "In a single day, a centre targets to register at least 90 forms. To increase the number of registrations per day, we are planning to open a maximum of 125 more UID centres in the state by the end of this month," said Anil Kumar, director (marketing), postal department.
Besides, Kumar told TOI that the postal department recently launched a new scheme to open postal accounts of below poverty line (BPL) families in bulk. This scheme aims to give each BPL family some financial instruments like passbook, credit card, debit card or ATM card, thereby making it easy for the government to help them.
The department plans to open at least 10 lakh BPL accounts this year and target half of the BPL population in the second year of the scheme. To make BPL families aware of this initiative, the postal department is distributing pamphlets and putting up hoardings and banners. It is also sending its representatives to remote areas to ask people to open accounts in post offices.
The minimum balance required for opening or maintaining an account under this scheme is Rs 50. The maximum balance that can be kept in such an account is Rs 2 lakh. "We are planning to lower the minimum account balance to Rs 10 or nil," Kumar said. "We would soon issue ATM and debit card facilities to BPL account holders," he added.
Within a month of the launch of this scheme on August 15, over 1.3 lakh BPL accounts have already been opened in the state. The districts with maximum BPL accounts are Gaya (25,000) Nalanda (20,000) and Siwan (15,000). The Bankipore division of Patna has more than 10,000 BPL accounts.
The postal department has over 28 crore postal accounts in India. In Bihar, the number is over 2.67 crore, of which more than 58 lakh are MNREGA accounts.
Parul PandeyParul Pandey, timesofindia.com
Sep 12, 2011, 01.25AM
