New Delhi, February 8. In a significant breakthrough for digital India, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has successfully updated the biometrics of more than 1 crore school children across 83,000 schools nationwide. This mandatory biometric update (MBU) drive, launched in September 2024, marks a pivotal step in ensuring seamless access to government services and exams for the young generation.
The campaign gained momentum through integration with the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) app. This technological linkage allowed real-time tracking of biometric update status in schools, pinpointing children who still needed updates. Special camps were promptly organized in schools, where teams efficiently completed the process for eligible students.
For children under 5 years, Aadhaar enrollment is limited to basic details like photo, name, date of birth, gender, address, and birth certificate, as fingerprints and iris scans are not fully developed. However, updates become compulsory at ages 5 and 15 to capture these biometrics accurately.
Failure to update can lead to hurdles in availing government schemes or registering for competitive exams like NEET, JEE, and CUET. To encourage participation, UIDAI waived fees for 7-15-year-olds from October 1, 2024, for one year, while updates for 5-7 and 15-17-year-olds remain free.
Beyond schools, about 1.3 crore updates were completed at Aadhaar enrollment and service centers. UIDAI CEO Bhuwnesh Kumar wrote to chief secretaries of all states and UTs, seeking cooperation for school camps. The eight regional UIDAI offices coordinated with education departments, district administrations, school managements, and registrars over the past five months to achieve this feat.
This mission-mode operation will continue until every school in the country is covered, underscoring UIDAI’s commitment to a fully digitized identity ecosystem for India’s children.