Aadhaar cards to be issued only for NRC applicants: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma sets condition

This decision is part of a broader initiative by the Assam government to zero in on people who have managed to get Aadhaar cards illegally.

Sarma highlighted that in districts like Dhubri, Barpeta, and Morigaon, the number of Aadhaar cards issued surpasses the projected population figures—103% for Dhubri and Barpeta, and 101% for Morigaon, reported The Indian Express.

He emphasized this indicates that "suspected foreigners" may have obtained Aadhaar cards in these areas, said the report.

To address this issue, the state government will introduce a new standard operating protocol requiring applicants to provide their NRC application number, issued in 2015, when applying for an Aadhaar card.

The NRC application process took place from March to August 2015, with 3,30,27,661 applicants, of whom 19 lakh were excluded in the final NRC published in August 2019, though it has yet to be officially notified.

Sarma indicated that Aadhaar cards will only be issued to those who were part of the 3.3 crore NRC applicants, emphasizing that this is a “universal process.”

“The question of whether the person’s name was included or excluded from the NRC is a different thing, but he has to have been an applicant. If you hadn’t even applied, that means that you weren’t even in Assam. From that, it can prima facie be taken that the person had entered Assam after 2014…. From October 1, the availability of Aadhaar cards in Assam will be a difficult test… We will issue a tough SOP in the next 10-15 days,” he said, according to an Indian Express report.

The tea garden community will be the exception in the new Aadhaar card issuance process, as the state government has yet to provide Aadhaar cards to a chunk of this group.

While the Central government is responsible for issuing Aadhaar cards, it has granted the Assam government some discretion by requiring a no-objection certificate from the relevant District Collector, the report added.