About UIDAI

• The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (“Aadhaar Act 2016”) in 2016 by the Government of India, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). 
• UIDAI was created to issue Unique Identification numbers (UID), named as “Aadhaar”, to all residents of India. The UID had to be (a) robust enough to eliminate duplicate and fake identities, and (b) verifiable and authenticable in an easy, cost-effective way. 
• As on 31 March 21, the Authority has issued 128.99 crore Aadhaar numbers to the residents of India.
• Under the Aadhaar Act 2016, UIDAI is responsible for Aadhaar enrolment and authentication, including operation and management of all stages of Aadhaar life cycle, developing the policy, procedure, and system for issuing Aadhaar numbers to individuals and perform authentication and the security of identity information and authentication records of individuals.

Why in News?

• UIDAI will host “Aadhaar Hackathon 2021” from 28th to 31st October. The hackathon is targeted at young innovators – who are still at various engineering institutes and eager to step into the real world.

Reference:

1. https://newsonair.gov.in/News?title=UIDAI-to-host-Aadhaar-Hackathon-2021-from-28-31-October&id=428219