Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday announced that all the new applicants for Aadhaar cards in the state will have to submit 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.
The chief minister said that the move will “stop the influx of illegal foreigners” and 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.
The Assam CM also said his government will “intensify the process of identification of illegal foreigners as several Bangladeshis were apprehended in the last two months and handed over to the authorities of the neighbouring country.
The Assam chief minister in the past has raised the issue of ‘demographic changes’ in the state. On August 28, Sarma promised a white paper on 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 CM had said he won’t let ‘Miya’ Muslims “take over” the the state.
