SHILLONG, SEPT 24: The Meghalaya Government will accelerate Aadhaar enrolment for children and launch special biometric update drives in schools to plug coverage gaps.
The decision was taken at the State-Level Unique Identification Implementation Committee (UIDIC) meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Dr Shakil P Ahammed in Shillong on Wednesday.
Dr Ahammed called for time-bound action to improve Aadhaar saturation across the state.
“There is a need for coordinated efforts by all concerned departments in collaboration with the UIDAI Regional Office, Guwahati, to address the identified gaps and achieve the desired outcomes in a time-bound manner,” he said.
UIDAI Deputy Director General Ngachan Zimik, who gave a presentation on the state’s Aadhaar status, said while enrolment and authentication have shown an upward trend, enrolment among children in the 0–5 age group remains a priority.
He suggested scaling up Birth Registration Based Aadhaar Enrolment (BRBAE) at district hospitals and health facilities using the Birth Registration Number (BRN).
For older children, the focus will be on Mandatory Biometric Update (MBU). The School Education Department will organise special drives in schools and explore linking MBU status with the UDISE+ portal to identify pending cases.
Explaining why MBU is critical, Zimik said, “Timely biometric updates can help students avoid authentication-related difficulties while accessing government schemes and scholarships and appearing for competitive examinations such as NEET, JEE and CUET.”
Officials also discussed better utilisation of Aadhaar enrolment kits, digitisation of government documents with QR codes for verification, and wider use of Aadhaar authentication for efficient service delivery.
Features of the new Aadhaar App – including offline verification, QR-based checks, and biometric lock/unlock – were also shared.
The meeting was attended by Director UIDAI Lt Col Swapan Kumar Saxena, Commissioner & Secretary IT Pravin Bakshi, Secretary GAD (B) Swapnil Tembe and other senior officials.
