UIDAI Services: Mission, Structure & Functions

The Central Government of India established the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The Aadhaar Act 2016 paved the way for this statutory body, which currently has its headquarters in New Delhi. Its purpose was to develop a body for issuing UIDs (Unique Identification numbers) or Aadhaar to Indian citizens.

Do you wish to find out more about UIDAI services? This article will give you a complete overview of this subject.

Knowing about the objectives of UIDAI will help understand its purpose. Here are the objectives.

• To provide a 12-digit unique identification number (UID) as Aadhaar.
• To ensure authentic identity by removing fake and duplicate identities among Indian citizens.
• To use an easy and cost-effective manner of verifying identities.
• To store personalised details like fingerprints, photographs, and eye scans to create unique identities.

The central vision of the UIDAI Aadhaar service is to empower Indian citizens with a unique identity. It also aims to maintain a competent digital platform to authenticate this unique identity of the citizens anywhere to avoid fake identities.

The mission areas of UIDAI are as follows.

• It aims to provide a transparent delivery of benefits. Moreover, it is committed to providing excellent and efficient governance for the targeted delivery of subsidies and services. The Consolidated Fund of India is responsible for bearing the expenses of this process.
• It develops defined policies and systems for issuing Aadhaar numbers to Indian residents. This is mainly done for people who apply for Aadhaar cards by submitting their biometric and demographic data and then going through this enrolment process.
• UIDAI also designs and updates policies related to updating and verifying their digital identity, ensuring the authenticity of Aadhaar identities with proper verification.
• Another mission area of UIDAI is to carry forward its vision and values long-term to develop a sustainable society. Moreover, it ensures that an advanced technological infrastructure is available and scalable in India.
• UIDAI maintains the confidentiality and security of the demographic and biometric information of Indian citizens that they provide for Aadhaar. It ensures that the data is stored in the right place to avoid misuse of this information.
• Finally, it ensures that every Indian citizen abides by the rules and regulations set by the Aadhaar Act. Moreover, it maintains that these rules and activities related to online Aadhaar services are consistent with the Aadhaar Act.

Now that you know the primary purpose and vision of UIDAI online services, learning about its functions will be adequate to know more about it. Here are the main functions of UIDAI.

• The primary function of UIDAI is to generate and assign UID to different Indian citizens.
• It frames policies and administrative procedures when it comes to maintaining the UID databases or their updates.
• UIDAI develops mechanisms and processes for interlinking the databases of partners with UID.
• It defines the use and delivery of UID across Indian residents.
• Moreover, it is responsible for managing and operating at different stages of the UID lifecycle.
• It coordinates with the implementation partners and user agencies to develop conflict resolution techniques among them.
• UIDAI maintains a phased approach for implementing UID in reference to the approved timelines.
• It takes necessary steps to ensure a collation of NPR with UID. Additionally, it aims to leverage field-level institutions like PRIs to link across partner agencies.
• The development of awareness and communication of UID is another function, including its usage. It also tries to identify new user agencies and partners.
• UIDAI is responsible for issuing instructions to the agencies involved in creating and maintaining UID databases. Here, it ensures the standardisation of the data elements in this process.
• Finally, it frames administrative procedures and policies for hiring and mobilising the resources related to this process. It outsources tasks and budgeting activities pertaining to UID and Aadhaar.

If you are wondering about the UIDAI services online, multiple services are coming from this authority. Here are the essential services that it offers.

Services Related to Enrolment

• Locating centres for Aadhaar enrolment based on location.
• Booking appointments to enrol for Aadhaar.
• Checking the status of the Aadhaar card.
• Downloading E-Aadhaar from the official website.
• Retrieving lost or misplaced enrolment ID or UID.
• Ordering wallet-sized PVC card.
• Completing Aadhaar Paperless Offline e-KYC.

Services Related to Aadhaar Update

• Updating details of Aadhaar card online.
  
• Updating Aadhaar information from the enrolment centre.
• Checking the Aadhaar update status.
• Viewing the history of Aadhaar updates.

Other Services

• Temporarily locking or unlocking the Aadhaar card.
  
• Generating virtual ID.
• Locking or unlocking biometric details.
• Verifying email or mobile number.
• Checking Aadhaar and Bank Linking Status.
• Filing Aadhaar-related complaints.
• Checking the status of complaints.
• UIDAI Regional Offices.

The organisational structure of UIDAI comprises the following members.

• It comprises two part-time Members and a Chief Executive Officer, who is also the Member-Secretary of UIDAI.
• The current Chairman and Managing Director of Persistent Systems, Anand Deshpande, is currently appointed as a part-time member of UIDAI. He is the founder of this authority.
• The current CEO is Shri Saurabh Garg. He serves the role of the legal representative and administrative head.
• There are over 127 officers and staff members in the headquarters of UIDAI, including the departments of IT and accounts. About 7 Deputy Directors General (DDGs) and Joint Secretary Level Officers are responsible for assisting the CEO. Assistant Directors General (ADGs), Section Officers and Deputy Directors are accountable for assisting the DDGs.

Currently, UIDAI has about eight regional offices across India. A Deputy Director General (DDG) is mainly responsible for handling each of these. Apart from that, these offices also comprise Deputy Directors, Assistant Directors General, Section Officers, Assistant Section Officers, Senior Accounts Officers, etc. Here are the current regional offices of UIDAI.

• Delhi: Delhi, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan
• Chandigarh: UT of Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab
• Mumbai: Maharashtra, Goa, Daman & Diu, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, and Gujarat
• Bengaluru: Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Naidu, Karnataka and Lakshadweep
• Guwahati: Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya
• Hyderabad: Orissa, Andaman and Nicobar, Telangana Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh
• Ranchi: Bihar, West Bengal, and Jharkhand
• Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh

That was all about UIDAI services. It is one of the biggest authorities of the Central Government for preparing and distributing Aadhaar, which is a unique number allotted to every Indian citizen as proof of identity. UIDAI is responsible for handling the citizens' personalised details and maintaining the rules and regulations pertaining to Aadhaar.