UIDAI urges schools to ensure biometric updates in Aadhaar for 5-15 years old kids

New Delhi | Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has called on schools across the country to ensure timely Aadhaar mandatory biometric updates for children in the age group of 5-15 years.

UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar has written to Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories, urging them to complete the pending mandatory biometric updates by organising camps in schools, an official release said on Wednesday.

"UIDAI has joined hands with the Department of School Education and Literacy, to provide the Mandatory Biometric Update (MBU) status pertaining to Aadhaar of school children on the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) application - a move that will facilitate MBU in Aadhaar for crores of students," the release said.

UIDAI emphasised that the timely completion of biometric updates in Aadhaar is essential for children at the age of five and once again at 15 years of age.

"It is crucial for maintaining the accuracy and reliability of biometric data of children in Aadhaar," the release said.

Mandatory biometrics update is pending in case of nearly 17 crore Aadhaar numbers.

Not updating the biometrics of the child may later lead to difficulties in carrying out authentication for receiving benefits under various government schemes, registering in competitive and university examinations, such as NEET, JEE, CUET, etc.

The UIDAI CEO has also apprised all the Chief Secretaries of states and UTs of the initiative and is seeking their support in conducting targeted MBU camps.

"It was thought that a camp approach through the schools could help in completing the pending MBUs," Kumar wrote in his letter.

The main question was how the schools would know which students had not done the biometric updates, he said, adding that the technology teams of UIDAI and the Department of School Education and Literacy teamed up to successfully implement a solution through the UDISE+ application.

"Now all the schools can have the visibility of the pending MBUs," the UIDAI CEO wrote.