Over 2.5 Crore Aadhaar Numbers of Deceased Persons Deactivated to Prevent Identity Fraud

1. At a Glance

UIDAI has deactivated over 2.5 crore Aadhaar numbers of deceased persons in a nationwide database clean-up to prevent identity fraud and leakage of welfare benefits [S1][S3].
Aadhaar is the world's largest biometric identity system with ~134 crore live Aadhaar holders [S1].
Tests federalism (Centre–State data sharing via Civil Registration System), digital governance, and statutory powers under the Aadhaar Act, 2016.

PIB release dated 04 February 2026 by Ministry of Electronics & IT announced the cumulative deactivation of >2.5 crore Aadhaar numbers of deceased individuals [S1].
Builds on an earlier milestone (PRID 2194626) when the count had crossed 2 crore [S2].

2009: UIDAI constituted (executive resolution) under erstwhile Planning Commission.
2016: Statutory backing via Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.
2019: Aadhaar & Other Laws (Amendment) Act — voluntary use for KYC.
2024–25: UIDAI began systematic sourcing of death records from Registrar General of India (RGI), States/UTs, Public Distribution System (PDS), and National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) [S3].
June 2025: "Reporting of Death of a Family Member" facility launched on myAadhaar Portal [S3][S4].
Feb 2026: Cumulative deactivation crosses 2.5 crore [S1].

Parent body: Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), a statutory authority under Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) [S1].
Enabling law: Aadhaar Act, 2016.
Death-record sources: RGI, States/UTs, PDS, NSAP, and (under exploration) banks & ecosystem entities [S3].
Civil Registration System (CRS) coverage: facility live for deaths registered in ~25 States/UTs; remaining under integration [S1][S3].
Live Aadhaar base: ~134 crore [S1].
Portal: myAadhaar (https://myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in) — requires authentication + Death Registration Number [S3].
Reactivation: Wrongly deactivated holders may apply via a UIDAI circular procedure [S4].

Governance / Administrative
Plugs leakages in DBT (PDS, NSAP, LPG subsidy, pensions) by purging ghost beneficiaries [S3].
Cross-ministry data flow: MeitY ↔ MHA (RGI) ↔ States under CRS.
Legal / Constitutional
Puttaswamy (2017) — right to privacy; K.S. Puttaswamy v. UoI (2018) upheld Aadhaar Act with restrictions.
Deactivation governed by Aadhaar (Enrolment & Update) Regulations, 2016.
Technological
Integration with CRS (under Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, amended 2023 — RBD Amendment Act mandates digital registration).
Family-member self-reporting + biometric authentication layer.
Social / Ethical
Risk of false-positive deactivation of living persons → service exclusion (pension, ration); UIDAI has circular for reactivation of wrongly reported deceased cases [S4].
Address state in Aadhaar may differ from state of death registration — coordination challenge [S1].
Economic — Reduces fiscal leakage in welfare; supports JAM trinity (Jan-Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) integrity.

04 Feb 2026 — Cumulative figure crosses 2.5 crore [S1].
2025 — Earlier milestone of 2 crore deactivations announced [S2].
June 2025 — myAadhaar "death reporting" facility operationalised across 24 States/UTs (since expanded to ~25) [S3].
2024 — UIDAI began proactive sourcing from RGI/PDS/NSAP [S3].
2023 — Registration of Births & Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023 enabled centralised digital death database, foundational for this drive.

UIDAI is a statutory body under MeitY, not MHA [S1].
Aadhaar Act enacted in 2016; UIDAI created executively in 2009.
~134 crore live Aadhaar holders as of Feb 2026 [S1].
>2.5 crore deceased Aadhaar numbers deactivated cumulatively [S1].
Death data sourced from RGI, States/UTs, PDS, NSAP [S3].
Portal used: myAadhaar — facility name: "Reporting of Death of a Family Member" [S3].
Family member must submit Death Registration Number + Aadhaar of deceased [S3].
Civil Registration System integration covers ~25 States/UTs [S1].
RBD (Amendment) Act, 2023 centralised digital death registration.
Aadhaar Act upheld in K.S. Puttaswamy v. UoI, 2018.
Deactivation ≠ cancellation — reactivation possible via UIDAI circular [S4].

GS-II: e-Governance, citizen-centric services, transparency in welfare delivery; Centre–State coordination (CRS).
GS-III: Internal security (identity fraud), DBT efficiency.
GS-IV: Privacy vs welfare, ethical handling of personal data.
Possible stems: 1. "Aadhaar deactivation of deceased persons is as much an administrative imperative as it is a federal data-governance challenge." Discuss. 2. Examine the role of the Civil Registration System in plugging welfare leakages in India. 3. Balancing right to privacy with welfare-fraud prevention — analyse with reference to UIDAI's recent measures.

Aadhaar Act, 2016 and Puttaswamy judgment — statutory & constitutional base.
Civil Registration System (CRS) & RBD Amendment Act 2023 — death-data backbone.
DBT Mission / JAM Trinity — beneficiary of clean-up.
Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 — data-handling regime.
National Population Register (NPR) — overlapping identity database.
PDS, NSAP, PM-Kisan — major schemes affected by ghost beneficiaries.
e-Shram, Ayushman Bharat — other Aadhaar-linked databases.
Registrar General of India / Census — institutional context.

UIDAI is under MeitY, not MHA or NITI Aayog.
Aadhaar Act is of 2016, not 2009 (year UIDAI was set up executively).
RGI is under MHA, not MoSPI — but CRS data is shared with UIDAI.
"Deactivation" is reversible; do not equate it with cancellation/cancellation of UID number.
The facility is on myAadhaar portal, not on UMANG or DigiLocker.

[S1] Over 2.5 Crore Aadhaar Numbers of Deceased Persons Deactivated to Prevent Identity Fraud — https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=2223050&reg=3&lang=2 — (tier: 1)
[S2] UIDAI deactivates over 2 Crore Aadhaar numbers of deceased individuals — https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2194626 — (tier: 1)
[S3] UIDAI Takes Proactive Measures to Maintain Continued Accuracy & Integrity of the Aadhaar Database — https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2145348 — (tier: 1)
[S4] Procedure for reactivation of Aadhaar number wrongly reported deceased (UIDAI Circular) — https://uidai.gov.in/images/Circular_for_reactivation_of_wrongly_reported_deceased_cases.pdf — (tier: 1)