Govt of India deactivated 86 lakh aadhaar cards "without human intervention": Majority of them are children

By A Representative
Amidst Government of India seeking to make aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns, Right to Information (RTI) queries have revealed that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) has deactivated a whopping 85,67,177 aadhaar cards for “biometric update”, and yet another 408 for “demographic update” between September 2010 and August 2016.
Interesting though it may seem, one of the RTI replies, given to a plea made by senior journalist Anumeha Yadav of left-of-centre site, scroll.in, says that aadhaar numbers requiring deactivation are “identified by enrolment processing systems” and the deactivation is done “without human intervention”.
Yet another reply says that the UIAI does not maintain “data on deactivations according to the enrolment agency or the registrar that carried out the enrolment, or the authorised official who carried out the deactivation”. In all, Yadav received five separate replies to her queries, which she had made last year.
Bringing this to light, Yadav write, “The Authority’s Data Update Policy states that the fingerprints and iris scans of infants and children enrolled in Aadhaar must be updated within two years of their attaining the age of five, and then again at the age of 15.”
“If they fail to do so within this stipulated two-year period, their aadhaar numbers will be automatically deactivated”, Yadav says, adding, as for the demographic updates – which are surprisingly extremely few (just about 408 in seven years) – these “pertain to changes such as death, change of address, or to correct errors in demographic data during enrolment.”

Yet another RTI reply says that UIAI does not maintain data on month-wise deactivations, nor does it maintain state-wise and district-wise deactivation data, which may be necessary to monitor if some states showed more enrolment or fingerprint errors and subsequent deactivations.

One of the RTI replies

Though Yadav is also told that “those whose numbers are deactivated are informed via text message on their mobile phones”, she is also informed that individuals are “not communicated the deactivation in printed mode or by post.
Yadav quotes Vikash Shukla, senior manager, communications and public outreach, UIAI, as saying, “Most deactivations occur as children are required to update their biometrics when they turn five or 15 years old, and if their data is not updated, their Aadhaar numbers get deactivated.”
As for the grievances redressal system, the UIAI says in RTI reply, it does not have information on officials, within it or outside, who are authorised to carry out deactivation on receiving complaints, nor does it share information on the policy and procedure followed with respect to officials responsible for grievance redressal.
Pointing out that UIAI does receive complaints both through a portal of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, an online platform used by various ministries, and through post, one of the RTI replies shares year-wise and state-wise grievances received between 2010 and 2016 on the “PG portal”, but adds it does not maintain “any record for offline grievances submitted on paper.”
The reply further states that grievance redressal through the 1947 call centre services have been “outsourced” to Tata Business Service Solutions and M/S SMPL. “These firms have their own policies to recruit customer care executives [voice and non-voice], and it is their internal matter. These are contractual partners of UIDAl and UIDAI has no role in recruitments of staffing in these firms.”
According to Yadav, the replies are significant, as these also come following government notification that aadhaar, or at least proof of enrolment in Aadhaar, was mandatory for several vulnerable groups – including women rescued from trafficking, workers engaged in forced labour, schoolchildren between six and 14 years of age, and people with disabilities – to continue to receive government benefits.
In the case of the schoolchildren, for instance, they will not be served mid-day meals from June if they cannot present their Aadhaar credentials.

Comments

Gram sabha as reformer: Mandla’s quiet challenge to the liquor economy

By Raj Kumar Sinha* This year, the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj is organising a two-day PESA Mahotsav in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, on 23–24 December 2025. The event marks the passage of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA), enacted by Parliament on 24 December 1996 to establish self-governance in Fifth Schedule areas. Scheduled Areas are those notified by the President of India under Article 244(1) read with the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, which provides for a distinct framework of governance recognising the autonomy of tribal regions. At present, Fifth Schedule areas exist in ten states: Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana. The PESA Act, 1996 empowers Gram Sabhas—the village assemblies—as the foundation of self-rule in these areas. Among the many powers devolved to them is the authority to take decisions on local matters, including the regulation...

MG-NREGA: A global model still waiting to be fully implemented

By Bharat Dogra When the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MG-NREGA) was introduced in India nearly two decades ago, it drew worldwide attention. The reason was evident. At a time when states across much of the world were retreating from responsibility for livelihoods and welfare, the world’s second most populous country—with nearly two-thirds of its people living in rural or semi-rural areas—committed itself to guaranteeing 100 days of employment a year to its rural population.

When a city rebuilt forgets its builders: Migrant workers’ struggle for sanitation in Bhuj

Khasra Ground site By Aseem Mishra* Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is not a privilege—it is a fundamental human right. This principle has been unequivocally recognised by the United Nations and repeatedly affirmed by the Supreme Court of India as intrinsic to the right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution. Yet, for thousands of migrant workers living in Bhuj, this right remains elusive, exposing a troubling disconnect between constitutional guarantees, policy declarations, and lived reality.

Policy changes in rural employment scheme and the politics of nomenclature

By N.S. Venkataraman* The Government of India has introduced a revised rural employment programme by fine-tuning the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which has been in operation for nearly two decades. The MGNREGA scheme guarantees 100 days of employment annually to rural households and has primarily benefited populations in rural areas. The revised programme has been named VB-G RAM–G (Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission – Gramin). The government has stated that the revised scheme incorporates several structural changes, including an increase in guaranteed employment from 100 to 125 days, modifications in the financing pattern, provisions to strengthen unemployment allowances, and penalties for delays in wage payments. Given the extent of these changes, the government has argued that a new name is required to distinguish the revised programme from the existing MGNREGA framework. As has been witnessed in recent years, the introdu...

Rollback of right to work? VB–GRAM G Bill 'dilutes' statutory employment guarantee

By A Representative The Right to Food Campaign has strongly condemned the passage of the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB–GRAM G) Bill, 2025, describing it as a major rollback of workers’ rights and a fundamental dilution of the statutory Right to Work guaranteed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). In a statement, the Campaign termed the repeal of MGNREGA a “dark day for workers’ rights” and accused the government of converting a legally enforceable, demand-based employment guarantee into a centralised, discretionary welfare scheme.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

'Structural sabotage': Concern over sector-limited job guarantee in new employment law

By A Representative The advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) has raised concerns over the passage of the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (VB–G RAM G), which was approved during the recently concluded session of Parliament amid protests by opposition members. The legislation is intended to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

India’s Halal economy 'faces an uncertain future' under the new food Bill

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The proposed Food Safety and Standards (Amendment) Bill, 2025 marks a decisive shift in India’s food regulation landscape by seeking to place Halal certification exclusively under government control while criminalising all private Halal certification bodies. Although the Bill claims to promote “transparency” and “standardisation,” its structure and implications raise serious concerns about religious freedom, economic marginalisation, and the systematic dismantling of a long-established, Muslim-led Halal ecosystem in India.

Making rigid distinctions between Indian and foreign 'historically untenable'

By A Representative Oral historian, filmmaker and cultural conservationist Sohail Hashmi has said that everyday practices related to attire, food and architecture in India reflect long histories of interaction and adaptation rather than rigid or exclusionary ideas of identity. He was speaking at a webinar organised by the Indian History Forum (IHF).

Search This Blog