New Delhi, Mar 3 (PTI) The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has completed mandatory biometric updates of students across more than 1 lakh schools within six months of starting the drive, helping around 1.2 crore school children, an official statement said on Tuesday.

The mission mode mandatory biometric updates (MBU) drive is ongoing for six months and UIDAI has made MBU in Aadhaar for children in the 7-15 age group free of cost for a period of one year beginning October 1, 2025.

In addition to camps held at schools, children can also complete their MBU by visiting any of the Aadhaar enrolment centres and Aadhaar Seva Kendras across India, the statement said.

"In a milestone achievement, the UIDAI has saturated more than 1,03,000 schools across India and helped millions of school students complete their mandatory biometric update in Aadhaar at ease and comfort of their school campuses," the statement said.

Keeping biometric updates in children’s Aadhaar helps them, while carrying out authentication for receiving benefits under various government schemes, scholarships, wherever applicable, and registering in competitive and university examinations like NEET, JEE, CUET, etc.

So far, the exercise has helped around 1.2 crore school children complete their MBU right in their school campuses, the statement said.

UIDAI rolled out the mission mode MBU drive for school children in September 2025, after a successful technological integration with the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) application.

The integration with UDISE+ of the Union Department of School Education & Literacy enabled visibility of the MBU status of children at schools. It helped to identify children who were due for an MBU and hold camps at schools to complete the MBU.

At least 4,000 machines are in use to execute the ongoing exercise, and UIDAI is in the process of augmenting this number further to accelerate the pace.

A child under the age of five can enrol for Aadhaar by providing the photograph, name, date of birth, gender, address and birth certificate, but the fingerprints and iris biometrics of a child are not captured for Aadhaar enrolment below the age of five as these indicators are not mature by then.

Therefore, providing fingerprints and iris information in Aadhaar by following the process of MBU, upon crossing the ages of 5 and 15 years, is an essential requirement for children. PTI PRS DRR

Mandatory biometric update for children enables Aadhaar authentication for benefits, scholarships and examinations. The UIDAI has implemented a mandatory biometric update (MBU) programme for school children aged 7-15, delivered through in-school camps and enrolment centres, with MBU made free for a limited period. Integration with UDISE+ enables identification of students due for updates and monitoring of MBU status. Initial enrolment below age five records demographic data only; fingerprints and iris biometrics are captured later via the MBU process once children reach the prescribed ages, enabling subsequent Aadhaar authentication for benefits, scholarships and examinations.