Assam to enforce strict Aadhaar verification from Oct 1, NRC details mandatory

Guwahati, Sept 7: From October 1, individuals seeking Aadhaar cards in Assam will face a more stringent verification process.

Announcing this on Saturday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the move comes in view of a troubling trend in certain districts, where the number of Aadhaar cardholders has surpassed the population.

"For instance, data shows that in Barpeta, 103.74% of the population, in Dhubri 103.48%, in Morigaon 101.76%, and in Nagaon about 100.86% have obtained Aadhaar cards. This raises concerns, as it suggests that suspected foreign nationals may have managed to procure the cards," Sarma said.

To curb this alleged illegal procurement, the state government has decided to tighten the verification process before issuing Aadhaar cards.

"From October 1, anyone applying for an Aadhaar card will need to provide their National Register of Citizens (NRC) application number along with their application. This directive will apply across all districts except the tea garden areas," the Chief Minister stated.

Sarma also mentioned that the government will issue a Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) for the new verification process within the next 10 days.

"Since the NRC process began in 2014, identifying foreign nationals has stalled. We now aim to intensify this effort as we’ve noticed a small but significant illegal infiltration. Hence, we’ll reinforce our second line of defence," he added.

Chief Minister Sarma further revealed that the Centre has now placed the responsibility on the state government, and Aadhaar cards will only be issued after receiving a No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the respective District Commissioners (DCs).

"We’ve discovered that foreign nationals use Aadhaar to acquire other documents to falsely establish their identity as Assamese. Therefore, we will make the Aadhaar verification process more stringent to deter illegal applicants," Sarma said.

The Chief Minister, however, highlighted that this new verification process will not affect the 9.35 lakh individuals who were previously excluded from obtaining Aadhaar cards.

These individuals are set to receive their cards from designated Aadhaar Kendras within the next "day or two".