Tracking missing kids, Aadhaar’s new benefit

Recently, a Tambaram-based NGO arranged to get Aadhaar cards for the rescued children in their home ‘Prathibha’. While entering details of the girls, the staff noticed that one of the girls was already registered under a different name in Andhra Pradesh. 

“Through the Aadhaar database, we traced the actual identity of the girl,” a Child Protection Officer (CPO) said. “Usually children rescued from traffickers or roads are kept at reception units and given counselling and the entire process is lengthy. 

However, with the centralised data of almost 90 per cent of Indians readily available with the UIDAI, parents and other details of a child rescued from traffickers can be traced in no time, if the child is registered for Aadhaar. In case of an unregistered child, the data can be compared with details of missing children,” Chennai District Child Protection officer Siva Jayakumar said. 

“Other cops and organisations can visit the Aadhaar e-seva centre and with a thumb imprint, get all details about the child before coming to us. Though UIDAI currently has no such provision, the authorities have been positive about our request,” he said. 

In the case of deserted children, the details available with CCIs are registered along with biometric data. While UIDAI earlier carried out Aadhaar enrolment for 3,600 out of 5,200 children living in homes of various NGOs in 2015-16, it couldn’t continue the process due to various factors. 

“With the relaunch of the drive, similar camps will be conducted in south Chennai to register new children,” said the Child Protection Officer.