An Aadhaar is a unique 12 digit number issued to every Indian Resident based on his/ her demographic and biometric details. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has opened a large number of Aadhaar Enrolment Centres for providing Aadhaar related services and issuing Aadhaar Card. UIDAI also collects all the essential data and stores it in their secured database.
An Aadhaar Card has many important details of a person like the fingerprints, Iris details, and other important information.
About Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services Act, 2016) or "Aadhaar Act 2016" on 12 July 2016 by the Government of India, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
UIDAI is mandated to issue an easily verifiable 12 digit random number as Unique Identity - Aadhaar to all Residents of India. Prior to its establishment as a statutory authority, UIDAI was functioning from 28 January 2009 as an attached office of NITI Aayog.
Demographic and Biometric Data required for Aadhaar Card
| Demographic Data | Biometric Data |
|---|
| Name, Date of Birth & Gender | IRIS of both the eyes |
| Address, Mobile Number & Email Id | Fingerprints of all 10 fingers |
| Relationship Status | Facial Photograph |
Information Available on Aadhaar Card
An Aadhaar Card contains all the personal information of the Aadhaar Card Holder. Following information is available on Aadhaar Card:
- Aadhaar Number
- Photograph
- Full Name
- Date of Birth
- Full Address
- Gender
Significance of Aadhaar Card
Aadhaar Card has become very significant and important as:
- Aadhaar Card is the only government-issued document that is available anywhere & everywhere
- It gives you unique identification of being Indian Citizen
- It is used as photo ID as well as address proof
- Aadhaar Card maintains equality and allocates subsidies to every citizens without being partial
- It helps reducing the corruption because an individual carries only one unique number
- It enables implementing agencies to identify and verify beneficiaries and ensure targeted delivery of benefits to them only
Features of Aadhaar
Following are the features of Aadhaar:
- Aadhaar gives nationwide portability as it can be authenticated anywhere on-line
- It comprises Uniqueness Feature. No duplication is possible in Aadhaar as is generated on the basis of demographic and biometric data of the person
- UID architecture is open and uses scalable Technology Architecture
- Aadhaar number is a random number devoid of any intelligence
Eligibility for Aadhaar Card
- The applicant should be an Indian Citizen residing in India, or
- He/she is a Non-resident Indian (NRI) residing in India, or
- He/she is a Foreigner residing in India.
It is to be noted that even new-borns can enrol for Aadhaar. However, there will be no biometric data captured in case of children below 5 years of age.
Documents Required for Aadhaar Card
For enrolment of Aadhaar Card following documents are required:
| Type | Name of the Document |
|---|
| Mandatory Documents | - Proof of Identity (PoI)
- Proof of Address (PoA)
- Proof of Date of Birth (DoB)
|
| Optional Documents | Proof of Relationship (PoR) |
Updation on Aadhaar Card Details
The person can get following items updated or changed on Aadhaar Card details by submitting a updation request form:
- Full Name
- Date of Birth
- Full Address
- Gender
- Photograph
- Mobile Number
- Email Id