GUWAHATI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Saturday that all new applicants for Aadhaar cards in Assam must submit their National Register of Citizens (NRC) application receipt number (ARN). The process will start from Oct 1.
This will "stop the influx of illegal foreigners" and the state govt will be "very strict" in issuing Aadhaar cards, the CM said, adding, "It will not be easy to get Aadhaar in Assam."
The chief minister explained this new requirement to submit the ARN would not apply to the 9.55 lakh individuals whose biometrics were locked during the NRC process, and these people would receive their Aadhaar cards. Additionally, the rule will not be enforced in tea garden areas due to practical difficulties like the lack of adequate biometric machines.
The Registrar General of India (RGI) recently asked the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to issue Aadhaar cards to these over nine lakh residents of Assam whose biometrics were mistakenly frozen in 2019 when the NRC was being updated.
Sarma added that the Assam government will prepare a detailed standard operating procedure (SOP) in next 10 days to implement this new rule. He emphasized that the submission of the ARN is essential to curb the influx of illegal foreigners.
He pointed out that four districts have reported more applications for Aadhaar cards than their total projected population.
"These districts are Barpeta with 103.74%, Dhubri with 103%, and both Morigaon and Nagaon with 101%," Sarma said. "Applications for Aadhaar cards are more than the population... It indicates that there are doubtful citizens and we have decided that new applicants will have to submit their NRC application receipt number (ARN)," Sarma said.
According to Sarma, the Centre has given states the authority to decide whether an individual can be issued an Aadhaar card or not.
"In Assam, we have decided that Aadhaar cards will be issued to new applicants only after a no-objection certificate is given by the district commissioner concerned. Such certificates will be issued after minutely examining all aspects. If the applicant has the NRC ARN, it becomes clear that he was in the state before 2014," the chief minister said.
Sarma also mentioned that the state govt would intensify efforts to identify illegal foreigners. Several Bangladeshis were recently apprehended and handed over to the authorities of the neighboring country.
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, Location Guesser and Mini Crossword. Prabin Kalita is a journalist at The Times of India and is curren...
Read MorePrabin Kalita is a journalist at The Times of India and is currently the Chief of Bureau (northeast). He has been reporting in mainstream Indian national media since 2001. He has been a field journalist reporting gamut of issues from India’s northeastern region and major developments in neighbouring countries like Myanmar, China, Bhutan and Bangladesh concerning India and northeastern region. He has been covering insurgency—internal and cross-border, politics, natural calamities, environment etc. He is a post-graduate in Geological Sciences from Gauhati University.
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