Three mentally challenged youths, housed in a State-run orphanage in the city, are being reunited with their families with the help of officials at the regional office of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) here. This brings the total number of children whose families were traced during the Aadhaar enrolment drive in the city to 10.
It was a background check of rejected enrolments that led to their families being traced. During an Aadhaar enrolment drive at the Child Welfare Committee Orphanage — where the boys were housed — their applications were rejected. It was later found that they had been put on the rolls a few years ago.
Nikhth Kumar, 16, was brought to the orphanage in March 2016. As he was unable to recollect his name, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) called him Prashanth. When his enrolment was rejected, the UIDAI’s Bengaluru Regional Office officials followed up on the case and found that the biometrics already existed in the name of Nikhith Kumar, from Pahihardo village in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh. This was brought to the notice of the CWC officials in Uttar Pradesh, who, in turn, communicated with their parents and confirmed that Nikhith was their missing son.
Karthi P. Pichandi, 20, who has been living in the orphanage since September 2013, was also identified in a similar manner. Officials traced his family to Chendathur village in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu.
The third youth, Manjunatha, 17, has family at Moodalapalya in Bengaluru. This was brought to the notice of CWC officials.
The boys have already spoken to their parents and will be reunited with them on Thursday. “Tracing the missing children was possible only because the parents had got their children earlier enrolled for Aadhaar,” a senior UIDAI official said.