Aadhaar may help trace missing kids, elders

Officials of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) are busy enrolling children and senior citizens in orphanages and old-age homes.

After tasting success in two cases where five runaway children found in Bengaluru were reunited with their parents in the last three months, the officials have now realised that Aadhaar can be a major tool in solving child-trafficking cases and tracking the children.

“Bengaluru has set an example where Aadhaar has been used to track children. These cases have shown that Aadhaar card is not just for subsidies, but also a good data bank in tracing people. There is a need to strengthen this and we are working closely with the police on this,” said a senior UIDAI official.

The UIDAI is focusing on enrolling children in all orphanages. The exercise is being undertaken in all seriousness in Karnataka and is being extended to Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

“Staff has been assigned with the task to visit orphanages to enrol children. The UIDAI is taking the help of NGOs, local and railway police. So far three orphanages in Karnataka have been covered and the work on covering all in the state is gaining momentum,” the official said.

The UIDAI is also working on enrolling people in old-age homes. “There are instances where senior citizens wander away and their family members struggle to track them. Though taking the biometrics of senior citizens will be difficult, we are contemplating on how that can be done. We are visiting all old-age homes, Karuna and Ashraya shelters, enrolling as many senior citizens as possible,” he said.

The UIDAI has also realised the need to include the differently abled. “Since most of them cannot be brought to the centres, we have decided to go to them and enrol them,” the official said.

He said merely getting an Aadhaar number is not sufficient, there is also a need to ensure that all geriatrics and the differently abled carry ID cards always. The institutions where these people are housed are being instructed to maintain their details and constantly monitor their movements.