DTAB proposes Aadhaar, ABHA-based digital ID for blood donors

India's Drugs Technical Advisory Board has proposed Aadhaar- or ABHA-based authentication for every blood donor to enable nationwide donor tracking. The recommendation appears in minutes of the board's 94th meeting held on August 27. It suggests amending the Drugs Rules, 1945, to make registration of blood centres on the e-RaktKosh portal and data uploading mandatory. The system aims to allow post-donation follow-up and prevent deferred or high-risk donors from donating at multiple centres.

Written by AI from News18 — India · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 18 Sept 2026, 1:33 pm IST

Source

News18 — India · read the original report ↗

#blood donation#dtab#aadhaar#abha#eraktkosh#health policy

Desk check · compared with the source

What the desk checked (5)

DTAB has proposed statutory changes to CDSCO to create a nationwide blood donor database. — Attributed to minutes of the 94th DTAB meeting held on August 27, described as seen by News18.
Donors would be authenticated via ABDM/ABHA ID or Aadhaar-linked OTP verification. — Quoted directly from the panel's recommendations in the source document.
Registration of blood centres on e-RaktKosh and data uploading would be made mandatory under the Drugs Rules, 1945. — Attributed to the DTAB recommendation as reported in the source.
The issue was first discussed by the Drugs Consultative Committee in June, with News18 reporting it in July. — Self-referential sourcing by the publication; no external document cited.
Experts say a centralised donor record would improve blood safety and availability. — Attributed to named experts Anubha Taneja Mukherjee, Dr JS Arora and Dr Sanjiv Sharma.

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Analysts’ view opinion

AI Policy Analyst

This is a classic case of India layering a digital identity rail onto an existing regulatory framework rather than building a new one — the DTAB is proposing that donor authentication via ABHA or Aadhaar-linked OTP, plus mandatory e-RaktKosh registration and data upload by blood centres, be written into the Drugs Rules, 1945. The design logic is sound and patient-facing: fragmented, centre-by-centre donor records are the reason a deferred or high-risk donor can donate again elsewhere unnoticed, and only a connected database closes that gap. But the proposal's success rests almost entirely on implementation — data quality, consent architecture and who is held accountable when uploads do not happen.

The intended beneficiaries are patients on repeated transfusions, such as those with thalassaemia and sickle cell disease, for whom both availability and unit safety are at stake.
Making e-RaktKosh registration statutory rather than advisory is the real shift, because voluntary digital reporting portals in Indian health administration have historically seen uneven compliance.
Using ABHA or Aadhaar-linked OTP avoids the cost and hardware burden of the biometric route the Drugs Consultative Committee had asked to be examined, but it shifts the burden onto phone access and network connectivity at collection points, including camps.
Health data of this sensitivity raises consent and privacy questions that the story shows experts flagging as an expectation rather than a settled feature of the design.
The accountability point raised by one expert — fixing responsibility on the blood bank department head and institute director — is the governance detail that usually determines whether such mandates work in practice.

What to watch — Watch whether CDSCO actually notifies the amendments to the Drugs Rules, 1945, and whether the notified text spells out consent, data-retention and accountability provisions rather than leaving them to administrative practice.

This is a recommendation recorded in DTAB meeting minutes, not a notified rule — the story does not establish a timeline, the final legal text, how private and camp-based collection will be handled, or what happens to donors without an ABHA or Aadhaar-linked phone.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 4 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

India's blood transfusion system currently relies largely on records kept by individual blood centres, which means a donor's past donations, deferrals or risk flags are not visible across centres. The Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), the country's apex drug advisory panel under the Drugs and Cosmetics framework, has now proposed statutory changes to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to build a nationwide donor database. The proposal, recorded in the minutes of DTAB's 94th meeting held on August 27, would amend the Drugs Rules, 1945, to make blood centre registration and data uploading on the e-RaktKosh portal mandatory, and authenticate every donor via ABDM/ABHA ID or Aadhaar-linked OTP.

Key facts

DTAB has proposed Aadhaar- or ABHA-based authentication for every blood donor to create a nationwide donor database, recommending statutory changes to CDSCO.
The recommendation is contained in the minutes of the 94th meeting of DTAB, held on August 27, seen by News18.
DTAB recommended incorporating provisions in the Drugs Rules, 1945, to make registration of blood centres on e-RaktKosh and uploading of relevant data "mandatory".
The two DTAB recommendations are mandatory e-RaktKosh registration and data uploading by blood centres, and donor authentication via ABDM ID/ABHA or Aadhaar-linked OTP verification.
The document says the upgrade will enable "robust donor traceability, comprehensive post-donation follow-ups" and "prevent high-risk or deferred donors from immediate multi-site donations."
The issue was first discussed by the Drugs Consultative Committee (DCC) in June, which recommended mandatory e-RaktKosh registration and examining biometric authentication of donors.
A sub-committee constituted for the purpose recommended donor authentication through ABDM/ABHA or Aadhaar-linked OTP verification.
The proposed system would create a digital trail of blood donation from collection and testing to issuance, with post-donation follow-up of donor records.

Timeline

JuneThe Drugs Consultative Committee (DCC) first discusses the issue and recommends mandatory e-RaktKosh registration and data uploading, plus examining biometric authentication of donors.
JulyNews18 reports the proposal discussed by the DCC.
August 27DTAB's 94th meeting recommends amending the Drugs Rules, 1945, for mandatory e-RaktKosh registration and ABHA/Aadhaar-based donor authentication.
Not stated in the source (sub-committee stage)A sub-committee constituted for the purpose recommends donor authentication through ABDM/ABHA or Aadhaar-linked OTP verification.

Who has a stake

Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) — India's top drug advisory panel; has proposed the statutory changes to create a nationwide donor-tracking framework.
Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) — Health watchdog to which the statutory changes have been proposed; would oversee implementation.
Blood centres / blood banks — Would face mandatory registration on e-RaktKosh and compulsory data uploading; Dr Arora wants accountability fixed on HODs and institute directors.
Blood donors — Would be authenticated via ABHA/ABDM ID or Aadhaar-linked OTP, enabling traceability and post-donation follow-up; consent and privacy concerns arise.
Patients needing repeated transfusions (thalassaemia, sickle cell disease, other blood disorders) — Stand to gain a safer, more reliable blood supply and reduced uncertainty during shortages.
Thalassemia Patients Advocacy Group (TPAG) and National Thalassemia Welfare Society — Patient bodies backing the move; seek proper donor consent and no infringement of the right to privacy.

Why it matters

Blood safety depends as much on knowing a donor's history as on availability, and today a donor deferred at one centre can donate at another without that history being known. Linking donor identity to ABHA or Aadhaar and mandating e-RaktKosh data uploads would shift India from siloed blood-centre records to a connected national traceability system. It also raises questions of donor consent and privacy that patient advocates themselves have flagged.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

DTAB (Drugs Technical Advisory Board) is India's apex drug advisory panel; its 94th meeting was held on August 27.
The proposed amendments would be made to the Drugs Rules, 1945.
e-RaktKosh is the portal on which blood centre registration and data uploading would become mandatory.
ABHA ID is issued under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM); Aadhaar-linked OTP is the alternative authentication route.
CDSCO is the health watchdog to which DTAB proposed the statutory changes.
The Drugs Consultative Committee (DCC) discussed the issue first, in June, and suggested examining biometric authentication.

Mains framing

India's blood transfusion ecosystem has long functioned on centre-level records, leaving no way to trace a donor across facilities — a gap that allows deferred or high-risk donors to donate at multiple sites and prevents post-donation follow-up. DTAB's 94th meeting (August 27) responds by proposing amendments to the Drugs Rules, 1945, making blood centre registration and data uploading on e-RaktKosh mandatory and requiring donor authentication through ABDM/ABHA ID or Aadhaar-linked OTP, thereby creating a digital trail from collection and testing to issuance. The implications are twofold: for patients with thalassaemia, sickle cell disease and other conditions requiring repeated transfusions, a verified national donor pool promises both availability during shortages and an added layer of safety, as experts such as Dr JS Arora and Dr Sanjiv Sharma argue; equally, mandatory identity-linked donor data raises consent and privacy questions, which TPAG's Anubha Taneja Mukherjee expects to be addressed through proper donor consent without infringing the right to privacy. The way forward, on the source's own terms, lies in careful statutory drafting by CDSCO, robust consent architecture, and fixing accountability — Dr Arora suggests on the head of the blood bank department and the institute director — so that mandatory reporting translates into genuine traceability rather than paper compliance.

Key terms

DTAB: Drugs Technical Advisory Board, India's top drug advisory panel, which recommended the donor authentication and e-RaktKosh provisions.
CDSCO: Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, the health watchdog to which DTAB proposed the statutory changes.
e-RaktKosh: Government portal for blood centres; DTAB wants registration on it and data uploading made mandatory under the Drugs Rules, 1945.
ABHA / ABDM ID: Digital health ID under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, proposed as one route for authenticating blood donors.
Deferred donor: A donor previously flagged or advised not to donate; the system aims to prevent such donors donating at multiple centres.
DCC: Drugs Consultative Committee, which first discussed the issue in June and suggested examining biometric authentication of donors.

Practice questions

Examine how a national, identity-linked blood donor database could strengthen blood safety in India, and what privacy and consent safeguards such a system would require.
"Availability of blood is only as valuable as its safety." Discuss with reference to DTAB's proposed amendments to the Drugs Rules, 1945.
What role can digital health infrastructure such as ABDM/ABHA and e-RaktKosh play in improving transfusion services for patients with thalassaemia and sickle cell disease?

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

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