Record all employees 'Aadhaar' numbers in service books: government to departments

NEW DELHI: All central government employees need to record 'Aadhaar' numbers in their service books, the Centre said today.

An employee's service book at present contains his or her bio-data, posting and security details, qualifying service, House Building Advance (HBA), Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme (CGEGIS), Leave Travel Concession (LTC), etc.

"It has been decided to include the respective Aadhaar numbers also of all government servants in their service books. The e-service book format already provides fields for Aadhaar number of the government servant," the Department of Personnel and Training ( DoPT) said.

All central government ministries or departments are requested to ensure that the service books of all employees have an entry of the employees' Aadhaar number, it said.

The attached and subordinate offices under the ministries control may also be suitably instructed for compliance, the DoPT said in a directive sent to all central government ministries or departments.

As per norms, every step in a government servants' official life must be recorded in his or her service book and each entry attested by the head of office. The head of offices are to obtain the signatures of the government servants in token of their having inspected their service books annually, the norms said.

"The information on Aadhaar number will help in giving an employee his or her service and post-retirement benefits," a DOPT official said.

Aadhaar, which is a 12 digit individual identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India, serves as a proof of identity and address, anywhere in the country.