Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)

The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday instructed all departments to stop accepting Aadhaar cards as proof of birth or date of birth, citing that it doesn't serve as a birth certificate.

The Planning Department's special secretary, Amit Singh Bansal, issued the order, emphasising that Aadhaar cards aren't birth certificates and shouldn't be used as such. This change affects how individuals prove their age or birthdate in the state. This move aims to clarify the document's purpose and avoid confusion.

The directive follows communication from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which clarified that Aadhaar does not qualify as an approved document for confirming date of birth.

The letter, sent by Bansal, to the Honourable Additional Chief Secretary/Chief Secretary/Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh, states, "Kindly have the courtesy to take reference of the letter number 16013/4/2020-RO-LKO/5416 dated 31.10.2025 of the Deputy Director, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI 00003050), Regional Office, Lucknow, through which it has been informed that the Aadhaar card is not an approved proof of date of birth."

The communication further states that various state departments do not accept Aadhaar as proof of birth and stresses the need to ensure uniform compliance across all government wings.

The order also instructs officials to issue necessary directions so that Aadhaar is not accepted as proof of date of birth in any state government department.

Meanwhile, in the recent development, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has deactivated more than two crore Aadhaar numbers belonging to deceased individuals, marking one of the largest clean-up exercises of the national identity database.

In line with the Ministry of Electronics and IT press release, this step aims to keep Aadhaar records accurate and prevent identity misuse.

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UIDAI said it has received information on deceased persons from the Registrar General of India, state governments, Union Territories, the Public Distribution System, and the National Social Assistance Program. The authority is also planning to work with banks and other institutions to share verified death data in the future. Officials explained that an Aadhaar number is never given to another person, so deactivation after death is necessary to stop fraud or wrongful use of welfare benefits.