First recipient of UID (Aadhaar) numbers

Profile and Photo

Name: Ranjana Sonawane

UID Number: 782474317884

Age: 40 years

Address: Tembhli village, Nandurbar district, Maharashtra

Education: Class IV (illiterate)

Marital status: Married, 3 children

Husband’s name: Sadashiv

Children: 3 (Umesh (11 years); Hitesh (5 years); Mangesh (toddler))

Profession: Daily wage agricultural labourer

Income: Rs. 50 per day

House: kuchha

Claim to fame: First person to be allotted a UID number

Other characteristics: Most adults of this village migrate to Saurashtra, Gujarat for jobs

Possible Implications

Financial inclusion: Ranjana wants Rs. 15K loan for husband’s illeness. Bank looks at her income  (Rs. 18K annually) and knows she can’t repay. Loan denied (or just delayed enough to be useless)

Government hospital: Local doctor sees she has three children already. “Population stabilization” is very important, even more so if state comes with some conditional cash transfer (CCT) scheme to incentivize. May push sterilization without consent

Migration: Villagers migrate to Gujarat, and state government not happy with this huge floating population. Artificially depressed wages but the excess spoils state “growth story”. Ration, health, education services to villagers from these areas denied.

Source: Indian Express, Hindu, Hindustan Times (September 30, 2010)