The Aadhaar card was issued to the first recipient in September 2010. Aadhaar is a 12-didgit unique identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India, which was established by the UPA government in 2009, to residents of the country after due verification process. It serves as a proof of identity and address, anywhere in India. Any Indian citizen, irrespective of age and gender, can enroll for Aadhaar free of cost. With the Aadhaar, residents can avail themselves of various services provided by banking, mobile phone and cooking gas connections and other government and non-government services. The original intent of the programme is to plug leakages in subsidy schemes and to have better targeting of welfare benefits. As on Nov. 30, 2018, nearly 123 crore Aadhaar cards have been issued.
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