More than one crore citizens in seven districts of Chhattisgarh would be provided with unique identification numbers under the first phase of the UID 'Aadhar' project in the state.

According to official sources, the Unique Identification Authority has selected Raipur, Bilaspur, Dhamtari, Korea, Janjgir-Chapa, Mahasamund and Bastar districts of the tribal state in the first phase, aiming to issue identity numbers to 1.15 crore people in its project implementation.

The Authority set up to collect data for the issue of tamper-proof biometric identity cards, has authorised the Planning as well as the Economic and Statistics department in the state as the nodal agency in this regard, they said.

'Aadhar' is the brand name for the 12-digit unique identity number.

The state government has decided to integrate the Public Distribution System (PDS) and other public welfare schemes to the project as it aims at effective governance and will ensure that delivery of these programmes can be directed better besides providing them with UID numbers that will serve as their ticket to be part of the inclusive growth, sources said.

Under this project, besides photograph and population details, impressions of all the fingers will be taken. Kids aged below five will be photographed with their parents. The unique IDs can be used to open bank accounts, and acquiring driving licenses as well as passports, they said.

Also, the project intends to issue these numbers with help of services of both the government departments and agencies, as also banks and insurance companies and other firms interested in it through special training to their employees for its effective implementation.

The UID project in Chhattishgarh was inaugurated by Chief Minster Raman Singh in October last year.