Baal Aadhaar – Give Your Child the Identity

Does your child have an identity proof of his own? Does he still rely on you for identification? If yes, time has come for you to gift your child the identity of his own. UIDAI has come up with special Aadhaar cards for children below 5 years of age. These Aadhaar cards, popularly known as Baal Aadhaar, are blue in colour. Most of the government ID cards need a person to be at least 18 years of age to be issued. However, Aadhaar is not one such document and even new-borns can enrol for Aadhaar.

Baal Aadhaar card, that is blue in colour, is issued to children below 5 years of age. No biometrics of the child is taken while issuing Baal Aadhaar. Demographic details are taken from the Aadhaar of one of the parents. Baal Aadhar is also of 12 digits and needs to be updated with the biometrics of the child when he turns 5. A final set of biometric data has to be submitted when the child turns 15. When the child turns 5 and submits his biometric data, he is issued a normal Aadhaar card. Many hospitals have initiated the process of handing over the Baal Aadhaar acknowledgement slips along with the birth certificates.

Benefits of Baal Aadhaar

Baal Aadhaar has a number of benefits for small kids. Some of these are mentioned below:

• Baal Aadhaar can be used as an identity proof for children while travelling in flights and railways or while staying in hotels
• Most schools have made it compulsory for parents to mention their child’s Aadhaar number in admission forms. The government is also promoting such activities
• Aadhaar number is mandatory for availing the facility of mid-day meal. This step has helped the government to remove more than 4.4 lakh fake students and save a huge amount of subsidy meant for poor children
• Aadhaar has been made mandatory for availing a number of services. Eventually, everybody has to enrol for Aadhaar one day. So why not enrol your child for Baal Aadhaar when he is still young

You can also gift your child a government-approved identity card. In order to enrol your child for Aadhaar, you have to visit an Aadhaar Enrolment Centre and follow these steps:

• Take your child to an Aadhaar Enrolment Centre
• Fill the Aadhaar Enrolment Form
• You will have to submit your child’s birth certificate/ discharge certificate of the hospital along with the Aadhaar card of one of the parents
• No biometric data of the child is taken for Baal Aadhaar
• Demographic data is taken from the parent’s Aadhaar details
• Baal Aadhaar of the child is linked with the Aadhaar number of the parent
• Once the process is complete, an acknowledgement slip is handed over to you
• The slip contains the Enrolment ID that consists of a 14 digit enrolment number and the time and date of enrolment
• The enrolment ID can be used to check the status of Aadhaar generation
• The Aadhaar is generated and sent to the registered address of the parent within 90 days from enrolment

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Documents required for Baal Aadhaar

The parents of the child have to furnish the following documents to get their new-born enrolled for Baal Aadhaar:

• Birth Certificate/ Discharge Certificate from the Hospital– the birth certificate or discharge certificate from the hospital is compulsory for enrolling the child for Baal Aadhaar.
• Aadhaar of any of the parent – Any one of the parents have to provide their Aadhaar number during their child’s enrolment. The Baal Aadhaar will be linked with that of the parent. If the parents do not have Aadhaar, they will have to get enrolled first and then enrol the child for Baal Aadhaar.
• School Photo ID card – If the child is admitted in a school, the school ID card can be used as a document proof in order to enrol for Aadhaar. However, the ID will be accepted only when the school is a recognised educational institution.

Once the Baal Aadhaar of the child is generated, the parents of the child have to take the child to a nearby Aadhaar Enrolment Centre for submitting the biometrics. The fingerprints of all 10 fingers and the iris scan of both eyes are taken. The photograph of the child is also taken. Once the biometric is submitted to UIDAI, a fresh Aadhaar card is issued to the child that is white in colour.

When the child reaches the age of 15, he has to get his biometric data updated. This data is final and will be considered for authentication for all required tasks in future. In case, there is any error in biometric authentication in future, the applicant can get his biometric data updated. However, a fee of ₹ 25 + GST will have to be paid to avail this service.

Applicants do not have to pay any fee for enrolling the child for Baal Aadhaar. No fee is charged from the applicant when he goes for submitting his biometric data at the age of 5 or while updating the biometric data at the age of 15. However, a fee of ₹ 25 + GST has to be paid in case the applicant updates any demographic data.

It is advisable that the parent updates his/her own mobile number in the Aadhaar data of the child. This will help in keeping a track of all subsidies availed in the name of the child, if any. The parent can install the mAadhaar app in his android phone and add the child’s profile as well in it. It will help in carrying the Aadhaar in the smartphone and use it for authentication wherever necessary. Parents will not have to carry the Baal Aadhaar of the child everywhere if they carry it in mAadhaar.

Baal Aadhaar not only gives your child an identity, but also empowers him and enables him to avail a number of subsidies under various government schemes. Thus, it is best advisable that you get your child enrolled for Baal Aadhaar. You have to enrol your child for Aadhaar anyway, then why wait if it can be done even now.