The Uttar Pradesh government has issued a strict directive prohibiting the use of Aadhaar cards as proof of date of birth in any official process across the state. This clarification comes after several government departments continued to accept Aadhaar despite previous warnings about its limitations for birth verification.
Fresh Instructions from Planning Department
The Planning Department has circulated new instructions to all state departments, emphasizing that Aadhaar is not an official birth certificate and should not be treated as one. This move follows explicit communication from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Regional Office in Lucknow, which categorically stated that Aadhaar cannot be considered an admissible document for verifying birth dates.
Special secretary Amit Singh Bansal of the Planning Department has directed all departments to strictly comply with UIDAI guidelines and immediately stop accepting Aadhaar cards for birth date verification. Officials have clarified that individuals must now provide valid documents such as birth certificates issued by competent authorities for any process requiring proof of date of birth.
Why Aadhaar Cannot Be Used as Birth Proof
Colonel Prashant Kumar Singh, Deputy Director General of UIDAI's Lucknow region, explained the technical reasons behind this decision. "Since Aadhaar was commissioned in 2010, we enrolled individuals based on three categories of date of birth: approximate, declared without documents, and documentary evidence. For approximate dates, we defaulted to January 1 of the stated year," he revealed.
This systematic approach means that many Aadhaar cards contain estimated or self-declared birth dates rather than verified information. Colonel Singh further highlighted that since February 2020, the Registrar General of India has discontinued manual birth certificates and now issues certificates with barcodes. "We only accept birth certificates with barcodes because scanning verifies authenticity," he noted, emphasizing that Aadhaar is solely a digital identity proof generated after combining biometrics and demographic details, and neither a birth certificate nor a nationality document.
Standardizing Documentation Practices
The state government's initiative aims to standardize documentation practices across Uttar Pradesh and prevent misuse of Aadhaar for purposes it was never intended for. This move aligns with the 2023 amendment to the Registration of Births and Deaths (RBD) Act, 1969, which specifies that:
- Birth certificates are issued free of charge if reported within 21 days of birth
- Delayed registration requires a fee, with certificates issued by the Chief Medical Officer of the district
- For delays exceeding one year, the certificate must be obtained from the Sub-Divisional Magistrate's office
The repeated need for clarification indicates that many government departments, schools, colleges, and institutions had been continuing to insist on Aadhaar as proof, prompting this latest comprehensive order from the state administration.
