Srinagar- Jammu and Kashmir has achieved an impressive 93 percent Aadhaar saturation, generating over 1.26 crore Aadhaar numbers against the projected population of 1.35 crore, officials said on Friday.

The achievement was highlighted during a meeting of the Unique Identification Authority of India Implementation Committee (UIDIC), chaired by Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, to review Aadhaar-based initiatives and assess measures to strengthen the authentication ecosystem across the Union Territory.

During the meeting, Dulloo underlined the need to focus on targeted enrolment drives to achieve universal Aadhaar coverage, particularly among children aged 0–5 years, where enrolment currently stands at 59.07 percent. He directed the Health and Social Welfare Departments to intensify efforts for complete coverage in this category.

The Chief Secretary also instructed the School Education Department to expedite demographic updates and the Mandatory Biometric Update (MBU) process for school-going children, while asking Deputy Commissioners and the IT Department to submit weekly progress reports on Aadhaar enrolment and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme notifications.

Emphasizing the importance of technological upgrades, Dulloo called for a shift from manual, non-verifiable certificates to QR-code-enabled online certificates to enhance transparency and trust. He also urged departments to adopt Face Authentication Technology for more inclusive biometric verification across all age groups.

UIDAI Regional Officer, Chandigarh, Commodore (IN) Dhiraj Sareen, informed that while Aadhaar saturation in J&K is among the highest in the country, around 4.7 lakh mandatory biometric updates remain pending. To address this, the Chief Secretary directed district administrations to organize special enrolment camps in schools and Anganwadi Centres.

The meeting also reviewed progress on the Birth Registration-Based Aadhaar Enrolment (BRBAE) initiative aimed at enrolling every newborn for Aadhaar at the hospital itself.

Currently, J&K operates over 1,000 Aadhaar enrolment centres, supported by two Aadhaar Seva Kendras (ASKs) in Jammu and Srinagar, with ten more in the pipeline. The administration is also transitioning from the ECMP to the Universal Client (UC) platform and upgrading ePDS devices for more reliable beneficiary authentication.

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