Ziraat Times News Desk
Jammu: Jammu & Kashmir has achieved a major milestone in Aadhaar enrolment, reaching 93% saturation with 1.26 crore Aadhaar numbers generated against a projected population of 1.35 crore. The achievement was reviewed today during a high-level meeting of the Unique Identification Authority of India Implementation Committee (UIDIC) chaired by Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo.
The meeting focused on expanding Aadhaar coverage, especially among children aged 0–5 years, improving authentication infrastructure, and adopting advanced technologies to enhance service delivery and transparency.
Top officials including the Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Production Department, Commissioner Secretaries of GAD, Youth Services & Sports, IT, School Education, and Law, Divisional Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir, and UIDAI Regional Officer, Chandigarh, Commodore (IN) Dhiraj Sareen, attended the meeting. All Deputy Commissioners joined the discussions via video conferencing.
Reviewing progress, the Chief Secretary noted that Aadhaar enrolment among children aged 0–5 years in J&K stands at 59.07%, significantly higher than the national average of 39.54%. He directed the Health and Social Welfare Departments to intensify efforts for 100% saturation in this age group and instructed the School Education Department to expedite Mandatory Biometric Updates (MBU) for schoolchildren.
To fast-track enrolment, the Chief Secretary directed District Administrations to organize special enrolment camps at schools and Anganwadi centres. He also emphasized the need to fully operationalize Child Enrolment Lite Client (CELC) kits and submit weekly progress reports on Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme notifications and activation of Enrolment Client Multi Platform (ECMP) systems.
Calling for greater transparency, Dulloo urged departments to transition from manual certificates to verifiable, QR-code-enabled online documents. He also encouraged the use of Face Authentication Technology for inclusive and convenient biometric verification across all age groups.
UIDAI’s Regional Officer, Commodore Dhiraj Sareen, informed that while J&K has achieved remarkable coverage, around 4.7 lakh biometric updates remain pending, which will be addressed through focused enrolment drives.
He further revealed that over 1,000 Aadhaar enrolment centres are currently operational across the UT, along with two Aadhaar Seva Kendras (ASKs) in Jammu and Srinagar. Ten more ASKs are being established in other districts to improve accessibility. UIDAI also proposed deploying Face Authentication Technology at high-footfall religious sites such as the Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine to enhance security and service efficiency.
Officials were apprised that the system is migrating from the ECMP platform to the advanced Universal Client (UC) platform, while ePDS devices are being upgraded from L0 to L1 fingerprint systems to improve reliability in beneficiary authentication.
The Chief Secretary stressed on data cleansing, inter-departmental integration, and Aadhaar seeding of welfare databases to ensure accurate and transparent subsidy delivery. Departments such as Revenue, ePDS, and Regional Banks were asked to proactively share Aadhaar-linked records with UIDAI.
The UIDAI Regional Officer lauded the J&K Administration’s proactive measures and assured continued support for upcoming initiatives under the Aadhaar programme.
Background: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), established under the Aadhaar Act, 2016, is mandated to issue unique Aadhaar numbers to residents for ensuring targeted delivery of government subsidies, benefits, and services.