Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena on Thursday chaired a review meeting on Aadhaar progress and officially launched the Face Authentication facility for the Public Distribution System (PDS). The event was attended by UIDAI Deputy Director General Commodore (IN) Dheeraj Sarin and senior officials from various departments of the state government.
During the meeting, the Chief Secretary directed all concerned departments to expedite Aadhaar enrollment and authentication activities in their respective domains. He specifically instructed the Directorate of Training and Technical Education, Department of Posts, and School Education Department to ensure all Aadhaar enrollment kits are activated without delay and optimally utilized.
Himachal Pradesh has emerged as a frontrunner in Aadhaar enrollment for children under the age of five. While the national average stands at 39%, the state has achieved an impressive 56% coverage. Over the past three months, the number of pending biometric updates has been reduced from 5.5 lakh to 4.75 lakh, with accelerated efforts through dedicated camps in schools.
The Chief Secretary also directed that private schools be brought into the fold, to ensure mandatory biometric updates for children aged 5 to 15 years. He urged the Education Department to run focused awareness campaigns for parents and guardians to encourage participation.
Additionally, he emphasized that Aadhaar enrollment kits be deployed at vaccination centers to ensure coverage for children up to five years of age. This initiative will be undertaken in coordination with the Health Department, Department of Digital Technologies & Governance, and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB).
UIDAI’s DDG Dheeraj Sarin briefed the gathering on recent updates in Aadhaar authentication, highlighting that private entities can now also use Aadhaar-based services as per regulations. The Chief Secretary concluded by directing all departments to digitize documents and mandate Aadhaar authentication across services for improved efficiency and transparency.
