Now, blue Aadhaar cards for newborns, kids below 5

Pune: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has introduced a new Aadhaar card — Baal Aadhaar card — for newborns and children aged below 5. The card, which will be blue in colour, will not need biometric details, UIDAI said through its official Twitter handle on Monday.
Newborns will be issued the card with Aadhaar details of one of the parents and it will have to be updated once the child turns five. “Update of cards for children aged between 5 and 15 should be free of cost,” stated the UIDAI tweet.

For the enrolment process, a child’s birth certificate and the Aadhaar card number of one the parents will be required. Though the Aadhaar enrolment rate for adults in the country has been higher than that for minors, UIDAI officials have been focusing much on enrolling children at birth.

Senior government officials said that while the distribution of the existing Aadhaar cards for newborns will continue, new enrolments will in all probability get the blue cards.

“The aim is to distinguish the new one from the regular card. The new card has to be updated when a child turns five and again at age 15 with biometric details,” a senior government official said.

Though it is not mandatory for children in the age group to get enrolled, Aadhaar cards are needed for attending educational programmes and availing of government scholarships, the officials said.

Last year, the Maharashtra government had decided to provide every newborn with an Aadhaar card and link the child’s number with that of the parents. A government resolution had stated that Aadhaar enrolment was to be undertaken simultaneously with the birth registration at hospital. For this, either of the parents needed an Aadhaar number. Even if a child was not named, the card will be issued against the mother’s name, the order stated.

The health department was supposed to certify its staffers as Aadhaar operators. Staffers of private hospitals were also supposed to be considered for the job. The officials said the entire process could not be followed because of shortage of machines and some technical glitches

At present, the district administration has 195 operational kits — 91 in the Pune Municipal Corporation area, 56 in Pimpri-Chinchwad and 48 in the rural area. Pune district nodal officer (Aadhaar) Vikas Bhalerao said banks and post offices were also helping the administration with the enrolment process. The administration’s demand for 100 additional kits is pending with the state government.