Image for representational purposes only. File. | Photo credit: Reuters
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will increase the number of full-fledged Aadhaar enrollment and update centers for adults to 473 from the current 88 by September 2026, UIDAI Director General Bhuvnesh Kumar told The Hindu.
While children can be enrolled in Aadhaar at post offices, adults have fewer places to go. Since adult applicants may have to travel across several districts to reach the centre, the expansion will help them, Mr Kumar said. Such centers offer all editing and enrollment services. Some Aadhaar details can be updated online, but changes in biometrics and name updates after a certain limit require a visit to the centre.
Mr. Kumar said that the UIDAI wants to ensure that there is at least one center in the two districts.
The number of adults enrolled is probably a small percentage of Indians (the exact proportion cannot be calculated due to the absence of a national census since 2011), but even a small percentage could translate into thousands of people given India’s population. “We are working with Google and will soon have Google locations for Aadhaar centres,” Mr Kumar said.
Field verification
Mr Kumar said that due to concerns over illegal immigration, Aadhaar was issued “only after field verification” by district administrations in recent months. Most adult applicants include non-resident Indians or overseas citizens of India, the latter being foreign nationals with ties to India either by marriage or parentage. Foreign nationals living in India can have Aadhaar as it is not a proof of citizenship.
UIDAI is working on data integrity by restricting changes in birth dates of Aadhaar holders. “If someone has two different dates of birth in two different documents, one is fake,” Mr Kumar said. People who had to change their date of birth once will be able to do so after filing an affidavit admitting the clerical error, but it will not be possible twice, he said.
Parents who falsified their children’s date of birth during Aadhaar enrollment face prosecution, Mr. Kumar said, referring to a case in which the Allahabad High Court ordered an FIR against a parent for irregularities in a child’s date of birth.
Published – 26 Dec 2025 19:43 IST
