Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Saturday that all new Aadhaar card applicants in the state will now need to provide their National Register of Citizens (NRC) application receipt number.
“Applications for Aadhaar cards are more than the population…It indicates that there are doubtful citizens and we have decided that new applicants will have to submit their NRC application receipt number (ARN),” PTI quoted him as saying.
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The Chief Minister stated that this step is intended to “prevent the entry of illegal foreigners” and emphasized that the state government will be “very strict” in issuing Aadhaar cards.
“It will not be easy to get Aadhaar in Assam,” he added.
“Submission of the NRC application receipt number will not be applicable for the 9.55 lakh people whose biometrics were locked during the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process, and they will get their cards,” Sarma added.
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The Assam CM added that the government will “step up efforts to identify illegal foreigners,” noting that several Bangladeshis were caught in the past two months and handed over to authorities in the neighboring country.
The Assam chief minister has previously highlighted concerns about “demographic changes” in the state. On August 28, Sarma pledged to release a white paper addressing the issue.
Sarma said,”…will bring out a comprehensive white paper on how the number of Muslims is increasing in the area with the Hindu majority…there is no report of communal violence and the two communities are living peacefully. But a reverse situation is happening on the other front.”
A day earlier, the chief minister stated that he would not allow ‘Miya’ Muslims to “take over” the state.
“Why will people from Lower Assam go to Upper Assam? So that Miya Muslims can take over Assam? We won’t let it happen,” PTI quoted Sarma as saying.
