Prisoners in Bihar jails are not lagging far behind when it comes to possessing Aadhaar cards.

Around 26,700 prisoners lodged in 57 jails of the state already have Aadhaar cards. The remaining 3,300 prisoners would be provided the same soon.

The prison directorate recently wrote to all jail superintendents, asking them to accelerate the process of making Aadhaar cards for prisoners, to meet 100 per cent target.

The earlier deadline was August 25, 2014.

Deputy inspector-general (prison welfare services) Om Prakash Gupta said the directorate has already achieved 85 per cent of the target.

“We hope to complete the task by end of this month,” he said.

Gupta said the programme was launched last month to enable each prisoner to have his/her Aadhaar number. “The idea is for each inmate to have his/her unique identification number. The same would be of a great help to them when they come out of prison,” he said.

Aadhaar cards would enable these prisoners to avail the benefits of government welfare schemes.

Not surprisingly, many prisoners queued up at centres inside the prisons to process the Aadhaar cards.

But the prison directorate is aware of a glitch.

“Most jails in the state have a floating population. Under such circumstances, we can’t cover 100 per cent population under the scheme,” Gupta said, adding the department would ensure that most inmates get their Aadhaar numbers.

Different jail authorities said the demand to process Aadhaar cards has dropped drastically after the deadline’s expiry.

“Only a few prisoners are turning up at our offices to fill up requisite forms,” a jail superintendent in north Bihar said.

The state’s high security Beur jail has provided Aadhaar cards to its 2,258 prisoners. Similarly, 2,000 inmates of the Motihari central jail have been issued unique identification numbers.

“The jail administration received a positive response from prisoners, who used to queue up early morning at the centres for their Aadhaar numbers,” said superintendent of Motihari central jail Rupak Kumar.

Inspector-general (prison and correctional services) Prem Singh Meena said jail superintendents were earlier told to report daily, on Aadhaar numbers given to prisoners, to the office of the DIG (welfare services).

“The process was being monitored from the directorate on a regular basis,” Meena said.

Sources said the project was to be completed before September 30, 2014.