GUWAHATI, Dec 12: Opposition Congress and Trinamool Congress on Thursday criticised the Assam government’s recent decision to link the National Register of Citizens (NRC) with the Aadhaar card process. The move, announced on December 11, mandates that applicants for the Aadhaar card must have applied for the NRC. This decision is aimed at tackling alleged infiltration attempts from Bangladesh, according to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who highlighted the state’s concerns over illegal immigration.
The opposition has quickly condemned the decision, with Congress leader and deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, accusing the BJP of wasteful spending of public funds. He shared government data highlighting the misuse of funds, particularly in the implementation of the PM Kisan scheme, and alleged that BJP members were siphoning off money intended for public welfare.
Sushmita Dev, Rajya Sabha MP from Trinamool Congress and an Assam native, also questioned the legality of the decision, pointing out that the NRC has not been officially notified by the Registrar General of India. Dev raised concerns over how the NRC could be used as the basis for Aadhaar issuance, especially considering that non-citizens in India can still obtain an Aadhaar card if they have resided in the country for at least 182 days in the previous year. She called Assam a “banana republic” under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the BJP for making such decisions.
Although the Assam government has not officially stated that the NRC is directly linked with Aadhaar, the new guidelines effectively set NRC application as a pre-condition for receiving a new Aadhaar card. Under the new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved by the Assam Cabinet, applications will be verified, and the documents will be submitted to the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) within 45 days.
The final NRC, published on August 31, 2019, excluded 19,06,657 individuals and included 3,11,21,004 names from the total 3,30,27,661 applicants. However, the document has not yet been officially notified by the Registrar General of India, leaving it without any formal recognition.
