IDinsight, a global development analytics company, has released its State of Aadhaar Report 2017-18 which provides data-driven insights on Aadhaar, the world’s largest biometric system.
At the same time, 87% of respondents approve of mandatory linking of Aadhaar to public welfare programs. Aadhaar’s coverage is widespread, but the data quality has room for improvement. The report finds a higher uptake of Aadhaar than voter identification cards.
Moreover, the report finds no evidence of differences in enrolment by gender, caste, religion, or education levels. The report highlights that 8.8% of Aadhaar-holders reported errors on their name, age, address, or other information on their Aadhaar letter. Compared to voter identification cards, the error-rate on Aadhaar was 1.5 times higher.
While exclusion from food subsidy welfare-benefits due to Aadhaar-related factors is significant, it is lower than exclusion explained by factors unrelated to Aadhaar. Overall monthly exclusion from welfare benefits ranges from 9.9% to 1.1%. Of this, Aadhaar-related factors contribute 2.2% and 0.8% respectively. Despite this, the report finds that a majority of welfare beneficiaries prefer Aadhaar-based benefits delivery in both states, as they perceive biometric authentication prevents identity fraud.
IDinsight’s State of Aadhaar initiative aims to catalyze data-driven discourse and decision-making in the Aadhaar ecosystem. The report is based on an independent household survey covering 2947 rural households in 21 districts across three Indian states. The survey was conducted between November 2017 and February 2018.
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