The Crossbill News Desk
The Assam government has once again tightened norms for the issuance of new Aadhaar cards, with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma saying the move is aimed at ensuring that “illegal infiltrators” do not obtain the identity document.
Announcing the cabinet decision on Saturday (June 13), Sarma said fresh Aadhaar cards would not be issued to adults unless their cases are individually approved by the government or they belong to Scheduled Tribe or tea garden communities.
Addressing the press, Sarma said, “Assam is already saturated as far as Aadhaar is concerned and some districts have Aadhaar enrolment rates of up to 115%”.
He attributed the unusually high enrolment figures to the presence of “illegal immigrants” and “infiltrators”.
“We want to fully prove that no illegal immigrant is taking advantage of Aadhaar,” Sarma said.
“No one will get the Aadhaar if the citizen is (18 or older). If at all there is some genuine person, then the deputy commissioner has to send a proposal, [which the government] will approve. But no more Aadhaar cards will be issued at the deputy commissioner-level to the citizens,” he said.
The new restrictions will not apply to Scheduled Tribe and tea garden communities until March 31, 2027.
The decision marks a continuation of a policy announced by the state government in August last year. At the time, Sarma had similarly justified the curbs as necessary to “curb illegal infiltration”, stating that Aadhaar cards for adults would be restricted to the “rarest of rare cases”. Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and tea garden communities had then been exempted for one year.
The latest move comes amid the BJP government's sustained campaign against undocumented immigrants, particularly Muslims alleged to have entered from Bangladesh, and a series of measures aimed at identifying and expelling such individuals.
Ahead of the Assembly elections held earlier this year, the BJP's Assam unit released a campaign video portraying Sarma as firing at undocumented immigrants, who were explicitly depicted as Muslims. The chief minister defended the video.
His government has also relied on a law enacted in 1950 to issue expulsion orders against those it identifies as undocumented immigrants, a process that effectively bypasses the state's controversial foreigners' tribunal mechanism as well as the Union government's deportation procedures.
With the fresh Aadhaar restrictions, the Sarma government has further reinforced its strategy of linking identity verification measures with its broader campaign against alleged illegal immigration in the state.
Announcing the cabinet decision on Saturday (June 13), Sarma said fresh Aadhaar cards would not be issued to adults unless their cases are individually approved by the government or they belong to Scheduled Tribe or tea garden communities.
Addressing the press, Sarma said, “Assam is already saturated as far as Aadhaar is concerned and some districts have Aadhaar enrolment rates of up to 115%”.
He attributed the unusually high enrolment figures to the presence of “illegal immigrants” and “infiltrators”.
“We want to fully prove that no illegal immigrant is taking advantage of Aadhaar,” Sarma said.
“No one will get the Aadhaar if the citizen is (18 or older). If at all there is some genuine person, then the deputy commissioner has to send a proposal, [which the government] will approve. But no more Aadhaar cards will be issued at the deputy commissioner-level to the citizens,” he said.
The new restrictions will not apply to Scheduled Tribe and tea garden communities until March 31, 2027.
The decision marks a continuation of a policy announced by the state government in August last year. At the time, Sarma had similarly justified the curbs as necessary to “curb illegal infiltration”, stating that Aadhaar cards for adults would be restricted to the “rarest of rare cases”. Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and tea garden communities had then been exempted for one year.
The latest move comes amid the BJP government's sustained campaign against undocumented immigrants, particularly Muslims alleged to have entered from Bangladesh, and a series of measures aimed at identifying and expelling such individuals.
Ahead of the Assembly elections held earlier this year, the BJP's Assam unit released a campaign video portraying Sarma as firing at undocumented immigrants, who were explicitly depicted as Muslims. The chief minister defended the video.
His government has also relied on a law enacted in 1950 to issue expulsion orders against those it identifies as undocumented immigrants, a process that effectively bypasses the state's controversial foreigners' tribunal mechanism as well as the Union government's deportation procedures.
With the fresh Aadhaar restrictions, the Sarma government has further reinforced its strategy of linking identity verification measures with its broader campaign against alleged illegal immigration in the state.
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