New Delhi, Nov. 26 -- The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has deactivated more than two crore Aadhaar numbers belonging to deceased individuals, marking one of the largest clean-up exercises of the national identity database. According to a Ministry of Electronics & IT press release, this step aims to keep Aadhaar records accurate and prevent identity misuse.

UIDAI said it has received information on deceased persons from the Registrar General of India, state governments, Union Territories, the Public Distribution System, and the National Social Assistance Program. The authority is also planning to work with banks and other institutions to share verified death data in the future. Officials explained that an Aadhaar numbe...