New Delhi, Feb 8 (NationPress) In a remarkable feat under its ongoing mission-mode initiative, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has achieved a significant milestone by successfully completing over one crore Mandatory Biometric Updates (MBUs) for schoolchildren enrolled in 83,000 schools nationwide, as stated by the IT Ministry on Sunday.

UIDAI launched this dedicated MBU campaign for schoolchildren in September 2025 following a successful technological integration with the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) application. This integration provided visibility into the MBU status of children at schools, enabling UIDAI and educational institutions to jointly identify children who required an MBU and organize camps at schools to facilitate the process, the statement elaborated.

For children under the age of five, the enrollment for Aadhaar involves providing their photograph, name, date of birth, gender, address, and birth certificate. Fingerprints and iris biometrics are not captured for Aadhaar enrollment below the age of five due to developmental reasons.

Thus, supplying fingerprints and iris data through the MBU process once children reach the ages of 5 and 15 is a vital requirement. A lack of MBU in Aadhaar may create challenges in authentication for accessing various government benefits, as well as for registration in competitive exams and university admissions like NEET, JEE, and CUET, the statement added.

To encourage children to complete the MBU, UIDAI has eliminated the charges for the MBU process for children aged 7-15 starting from October 1, 2025, for a year. Additionally, MBUs for children aged 5-7 and 15-17 remain free of charge.

Besides conducting camps at schools, children can also complete their MBUs at any of the Aadhaar enrollment centers and Aadhaar Seva Kendras available nationwide. Approximately 1.3 crore MBU transactions have been completed during this timeframe at these centers.

Bhuvnesh Kumar, CEO of UIDAI, has communicated with Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories, informing them of this initiative and soliciting their support in organizing targeted MBU camps at schools.

UIDAI Regional Offices across eight locations in the country have collaborated for over five months to coordinate this extensive effort with all involved stakeholders, including Education Departments of States and Union Territories, district administration, UIDAI registrars, and school authorities. The mission-mode campaign will continue until every school in the country is reached.