J&K Achieves 93% Aadhaar Saturation, Generates 1.26 Crore Aadhaar Numbers
JAMMU: Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, today chaired a meeting of the Unique Identification Authority of India Implementation Committee (UIDIC) to review Aadhaar implementation across Jammu and Kashmir and discuss measures to strengthen the authentication ecosystem.
The meeting focused on expediting citizen-centric Aadhaar services, ensuring universal coverage, and implementing technological and policy reforms for more efficient service delivery.
Senior officers 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; DG, Economics & Statistics; and UIDAI Regional Officer, Chandigarh, attended the meeting. All Deputy Commissioners participated via video conferencing.
During the review, the Chief Secretary emphasized the need for a focused strategy to achieve 100% Aadhaar saturation, particularly among children aged 0–5 years. He noted that J&K’s enrolment rate in this category stands at 59.07%, higher than the national average of 39.54%, and directed the Health and Social Welfare Departments to intensify coverage efforts.
He further instructed the School Education Department to accelerate demographic corrections and the Mandatory Biometric Update (MBU) process for school-going children. Deputy Commissioners and the IT Department were also asked to submit weekly progress reports on the notification of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes and activation of Enrolment Client Multi Platform (ECMP) and Child Enrolment Lite Client (CELC) kits.
Calling for digital transformation, Dulloo urged departments to replace manual, non-verifiable certificates with QR code-enabled online documents to promote transparency and trust. He also highlighted the potential of Face Authentication Technology as an inclusive and convenient mode of biometric verification.
Commodore (IN) Dhiraj Sareen, DDG UIDAI Regional Office, Chandigarh, informed that J&K has achieved 93% Aadhaar saturation—generating 1.26 crore Aadhaar numbers against a projected population of 1.35 crore. However, around 4.7 lakh Mandatory Biometric Updates remain pending, for which the Chief Secretary directed focused enrolment drives.
District administrations have been instructed to hold special enrolment camps at schools and Anganwadi Centres and to strengthen the Birth Registration-Based Aadhaar Enrolment (BRBAE) initiative to ensure newborns are enrolled for Aadhaar at birth.
Currently, over 1,000 Aadhaar enrolment centres operate across J&K, supported by two fully functional Aadhaar Seva Kendras (ASKs) in Jammu and Srinagar. Ten more ASKs are in the pipeline to expand accessibility.
UIDAI also proposed deploying Face Authentication Technology at major religious destinations such as Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine to enhance security, streamline pilgrim management, and improve service delivery.
The meeting was apprised that the system is transitioning from the ECMP platform to the Universal Client (UC) platform, while ePDS devices are being upgraded from L0 to L1 fingerprint devices for more accurate beneficiary authentication.
Emphasizing inter-departmental data integration, the Chief Secretary directed departments such as ePDS, Revenue, and Regional Banks to share Aadhaar-seeded data with UIDAI to ensure precise beneficiary linkage and transparent subsidy delivery.
The UIDAI Regional Officer commended the J&K Administration’s proactive efforts and assured continued support for Aadhaar-based initiatives.
It is noteworthy that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), a statutory body under the Aadhaar Act, 2016, is mandated to issue unique Aadhaar numbers to all residents for the targeted and transparent delivery of government services and benefits.
