UIDAI announces five new Aadhaar services on Aadhaar Day, including face-based ration and queue tokens

There is good news for Aadhaar users. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has announced five new services on Aadhaar Day. Ordinary people, farmers and the elderly stand to gain the most.

Fingerprints often fail to match on the machine at ration shops, and people go without ration. UIDAI has found a solution.

The first service is face authentication. Fingerprints of many people do not register on the machine. The fingers of people who work in fields, labourers and the elderly are often worn. As a result, their prints do not match on the e-POS machine and the shopkeeper does not give them ration. Now ration will be available simply through a face scan. With the beneficiary's permission, the shopkeeper will take their photograph and issue the ration. The service is being introduced gradually at all ration shops. It will spare thousands of people the trouble.

The second service is a token system at Aadhaar centres. Centres usually have long queues and people have to stand for hours. Women and the elderly suffer the most. UIDAI has now started a token system. On reaching the centre, a person will get a token number. There is no need to stand in line; they can sit on a chair. When their number appears on the screen, they can go in and get their work done. This will reduce crowding and get work done faster.

The third service is for small companies and organisations. Earlier, if a small company or an NGO wanted to carry out Aadhaar verification, the process was long and it had to buy expensive machines. UIDAI has now eased the rules. Companies that need to check Aadhaar in small numbers can work directly with the help of an AUA and an e-KYC agency. They do not need to set up a separate system. This will cut costs for small traders and organisations.

The fourth service is the SWIK 2.0 portal. An organisation seeking permission to do Aadhaar work earlier had to make several trips and go to an office with papers. Now everything will be done online on UIDAI's new SWIK 2.0 portal. An organisation can apply from home and upload documents. There is no need to go to a government office. The process will be transparent and faster.

The fifth service is a new website. UIDAI is completely redesigning its website. The new site will be modern, with a screen reader for the visually impaired, larger fonts and keyboard navigation. The website is currently in 13 languages and will now be available in 23. Marathi will be among them, so all Aadhaar information and forms will be available in one's own language. A person in any corner of the country will be able to understand Aadhaar in their own language.

These five services will make Aadhaar easier to use. The resolution of the ration problem in particular has brought big relief to poor people.