Guwahati: A divyang girl was reunited with her family in Assam on Saturday, nearly a year after she went missing, after Aadhaar fingerprint biometrics captured during enrolment were matched with her existing Aadhaar records, officials said.The child, a resident of Borhat Tea Estate in Charaideo district, has intellectual disabilities and could not communicate, officials said. She had travelled about 50km to Dibrugarh district, where efforts to locate her home failed for the past 11 months.On May 29 last year, local residents found her wandering at Dilli Ghat in Namrup in upper Assam’s Dibrugarh district and handed her over to police. The Child Welfare Committee in Dibrugarh later referred her to Mrinaljyoti Jyotiniwas Children Home in Duliajan for care and protection.With communication proving impossible despite repeated attempts, the superintendent of the children’s home approached the UIDAI Regional Office in Guwahati for help in identifying her. UIDAI advised that her fingerprint biometrics be submitted through Aadhaar enrolment so they could be matched with existing records, if any.“After the biometric details were captured, the Aadhaar system successfully matched her existing records, which helped trace her home address. Based on the Aadhaar details, the authorities were able to locate her family and complete the process of reuniting her with them,” a govt release said. The release said the case highlights Aadhaar’s role in identity verification and shows how technology, along with coordinated efforts by administrative authorities and child welfare institutions, can help reunite families and support vulnerable individuals.UIDAI also advised parents and guardians to complete the Mandatory Biometric Update (MBU) for children aged 5-7 years and 15-17 years to keep Aadhaar biometric details accurate and updated.Members of the village defence party from Borhat Tea Estate and the child’s family went to Mrinaljyoti Jyotiniwas Children Home, where she had stayed for the past 11 months. Jimi Boruah, superintendent of the children’s home, said, “She just spoke one or two words like ghar jam (I will go home) and also was able to tell parents’ names, not her place,” Boruah added.The child’s elder brother, Anil Manjhi, a tea garden worker, said she often roamed around the tea garden and visited paan shops to eat betel nut before disappearing. “One day we all went to the tea garden to work at around 7:30am and could not find her after returning from work. It was an unexpected find. We also published about her in newspapers and media but were unable to trace her. We slowly lost all hope,” said Anil.
