Patna, Dec. 16: Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi would be the first resident of the state to be enrolled for Aadhaar number, a drive for which the rural development department would launch shortly.

Till now, the Aadhaar registration was carried out through different agencies such as banks and post offices.

The rural development department would for the first time start enrolling people for the Unique Identification Number (UID) project in the state after which they would get Aadhar numbers.

Sharing details, rural development minister Nitish Mishra said: “The special Aadhaar registration drive be launched within a week.”

The move comes as a huge respite for those seeking benefits under a number of welfare schemes based on Aadhaar-linked direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme of the Union government.

The Centre recently made Aadhaar number mandatory to receive cash subsidy under the direct benefit transfer for LPG (cooking gas) from January 1, 2015.

Around 80 per cent of the state’s 10.41 crore population do not have Aadhaar number.

“With a huge chunk of the state’s population to be covered, we have decided to start the drive on a large-scale. As you know, irrespective of age every individual is supposed to have UID, including infants. So the department has also decided to open permanent enrolment centre at certain places. We are in the tendering process to select agencies,” said Mishra.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), in a statement released from New Delhi on November 18, claimed that over 2 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated in Bihar out of a total population of 10.41 crore (according to the 2011 Census).

The minister added that the main focus would remain on places with presence of a large number of people.

“To get maximum people enrolled for Aadhaar, the department has also decided to open temporary camps at certain places where large number of people are available such as colleges, schools, universities and other educational institutions. Earlier, there was no clarity on the Aadhaar card but ever since it was linked to direct benefit transfer, everybody wants the card. So this is the way we have chosen to speed up the work of enrolment,” said Mishra.

Aadhaar, a 12-digit individual identification number, would provide a universal identity for a person and can be utilised for over 600 services in the country.

The rural development department would also set up temporary camps in the villages as well to get people enrolled.

“We have targeted that by 2015 every citizen of Bihar should have Aadhaar card,” said Mishra.