Assam Bars Aadhaar Cards For Adults Above 18

Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said that state cabinet has approved a decision restricting the issuance of new Aadhaar cards for citizens above 18 years of age.

However, adult citizens of Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and tea garden communities have been given exemption on getting Aadhar card for another one year.

Pointing out the state has achieved Aadhaar saturation of 102 percent, higher than its actual population, the chief minister told reporters that his government was compelled to take this decision to check the misuse of Aadhar in the state. “This shows that more Aadhaar cards have been issued than the state’s population. To prevent misuse by infiltrators, we have decided that people above 18 will not be issued fresh Aadhaar cards. Only SC, ST, and tea garden communities are exempted because Aadhaar penetration among them is 96 percent, meaning 4 percent are yet to be covered,” said Mr Sarma.

Further informing that the decision would come into effect from October, Mr Sarma said that citizens outside the exempted groups have only until September to apply for Aadhaar. "After that, applications will be barred," he said.

The chief minister also clarified that in “rarest of the rare cases”, Aadhaar may still be issued if approved by the Deputy Commissioner (DC). “The DC will decide only after discussion with the Foreigners’ Tribunal and the Special Branch. This will ensure strict scrutiny,” he said.

Mr Sarma linked the decision of the cabinet directly to the state’s battle against illegal immigration.

“Just yesterday, we pushed back seven infiltrators at the border. We may not be able to push back all, but by closing Aadhaar enrolment, we are also sending a strong signal that infiltrators cannot claim entitlements through Aadhaar,” he asserted while reiterating the commitment of his government to intensify measures to drive out foreigners.