Aadhaar gets official mascot as UIDAI launches ‘Udai’

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Thursday launched Udai, the official Aadhaar mascot, to simplify communication for public understanding of Aadhaar services.

Conceived as a resident-facing communication companion, Udai will help make Aadhaar information more relatable and people-friendly, according to an official statement.

The mascot will be used to explain services such as Aadhaar updates, authentication, offline verification, selective sharing of information, adoption of new technologies and responsible usage.

"The UIDAI today launched the Aadhaar mascot, a new resident-facing communication companion to simplify public understanding of Aadhaar services. The Aadhaar mascot named Udai will be helpful in making Aadhaar-related information more relatable and people-friendly," the statement said.

The mascot was selected through an open national design and naming competition hosted on the MyGov platform, which drew 875 entries from across the country, including students, professionals and designers.

UIDAI said a multi-tier evaluation process was adopted to ensure fairness and rigour in the selection.

Arun Gokul from Thrissur in Kerala won the first prize in the mascot design competition, while Idris Dawaiwala of Pune, Maharashtra, and Krishna Sharma from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh secured the second and third prizes, respectively.

In the mascot name competition, Riya Jain from Bhopal won the first prize, followed by Idris Dawaiwala of Pune and Maharaj Saran Chellapilla of Hyderabad in the second and third positions.

UIDAI Chairman Neelkanth Mishra unveiled the mascot and felicitated the winners at a function in Thiruvananthapuram.

While launching the mascot, UIDAI Chief Executive Officer Bhuvnesh Kumar said that by inviting citizens to design and name the mascot through an open competition, the authority reaffirmed a core principle of Aadhaar — participation builds trust and acceptance.

Vivek C Verma, Deputy Director General at UIDAI, said the mascot will serve as a companion and narrator, helping residents engage with Aadhaar-related information with ease.