UIDAI Completes Mandatory Biometric Updates for 1 Crore Children
📌 Major Update: uidai Hits Big MilestoneThe unique identification authority of india (UIDAI) has completed mandatory biometric updates (MBUs) for over 1 crore schoolchildren across around 83,000 schools nationwide.🧒 What Are Mandatory biometric Updates?
- Children enrolled in Aadhaar before age five do not have fingerprint or iris data captured at that time because these features aren’t fully developed yet.
- When a child turns five and again at fifteen, they must undergo a Mandatory biometric Update, which includes updated fingerprints, iris scans, and photo.
- This large‑scale update was conducted as a mission‑mode initiative launched in September 2025, with the help of state education departments, district administrations, and school authorities.
- A key factor in the success was integration with the Unified district Information System for education Plus (UDISE+), which helped schools track and identify students due for updates.
- Updated Aadhaar biometrics are critical for seamless authentication when accessing government schemes, and for registrations in competitive and university exams such as NEET, JEE, and CUET.
- Failure to complete MBUs can lead to authentication challenges that might impact access to services.
- UIDAI has made MBU free for children aged 7 to 15 years for a one‑year period starting 1 October 2025, encouraging wider participation.
- Apart from school‑based camps, children can complete their updates at Aadhaar enrollment centres and Aadhaar Seva Kendras.
- UIDAI’s campaign is ongoing until coverage of all schools nationwide, with efforts to extend biometric update access via multiple channels.
- Additional updates beyond school drives — such as visits to enrolment centres — show about 1.3 crore MBU transactions were also completed during this period.