GUWAHATI:
The Assam government will soon move the Supreme Court on the issue of non-issuance of Aadhaar cards to over 27 lakhs people whose biometrics were blocked by the Registrar General of India (RGI) during the process of updating of National Register of Citizens (NRC).
This decision was taken after the state government met 27 organisations of Assam to discuss the issue, on March 24. The organisations expressed concern over the issue saying without Aadhaar card, many people have been unable to avail benefits of several government schemes.
As per an SOP of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) prepared under the directive of the Supreme Court, biometric details of 27 lakh people were collected during the claims-and-objections period of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in 2019.
Cabinet ministers Atul Bora, Pijush Hazarika and Jogen Mohan, who were also present at the meeting, said that the state government would be filing a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court seeking re-verification of the NRC that was published on August 31, 2019.
“We are seeking re-verification of the NRC as the names of doubtful citizens might have been included in the NRC,” Hazarika said.
Bora said that the organisations suggested that since the Aadhaar card is not a citizenship document, these people should be provided with the Aadhaar cards.
He, however, said that exclusion of names of persons from the final NRC would eventually lead to cancellation of Aadhaar eligibility.
On March 15, the state government informed the state assembly that 85.55 per cent of people of the state have enrolled with Aadhaar till February 28.