GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has announced a crackdown on Aadhaar cardholders who neither figure in nor applied for inclusion in the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
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Sarma delivered the statement on Sunday, April 27, while he was campaigning for the upcoming panchayat polls at Azara, located on the western outskirts of Guwahati. Addressing reporters, he informed that the authorities would soon launch a drive to identify those living in Assam who possess Aadhaar cards but had not applied for NRC inclusion.
The NRC process itself had been paused following demands from the BJP-led government for a re-verification of the list, citing concerns that non-citizens managed to enter using fabricated documents. Allegations of corruption among officials involved in the NRC process also surfaced during that period.
Following these allegations, in December 2024, the Assam Cabinet decided that applicants for Aadhaar cards would need to provide proof of NRC application and secure a no-objection certificate from the district commissioner. This move, Sarma said, was prompted by concerns over infiltration attempts from neighbouring Bangladesh.
The chief minister had also earlier highlighted that districts such as Barpeta, Dhubri, Morigaon, and Nagaon had Aadhaar card numbers exceeding their projected population figures. In Barpeta, 103.74% of the projected population possessed Aadhaar cards, while in Dhubri, Nagaon, and Morigaon, the figures stood at 103.48%, 101.86%, and 101.76% respectively.
The NRC updating process, initiated in December 2013 at an estimated cost of ₹1,600 crore, culminated in August 2019 with the publication of the complete draft. It excluded 19.06 lakh individuals out of nearly 3.3 crore applicants due to the absence of valid documents.
Notably, exemptions from the new Aadhaar conditions will be made for the 9.52 lakh individuals whose biometrics were frozen during the NRC updating process, and for tea plantation workers who faced challenges in accessing NRC application facilities.
