Aadhaar card to be issued to 9.35 lakh people whose biometrics were locked: Himanta

GUWAHATI — Over 9.35 lakh people of Assam who were not being able to get their Aadhaar cards as their biometrics submitted during the NRC updating process, were locked, will be issued the cards soon by the UIDAI, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday.

He said the Central government has instructed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to issue the cards as it has been established that there is “no correlation between inclusion of name in National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Aadhaar registration”.

Addressing a press conference here, Sarma said, “There were total of 9,35,682 people who had submitted the biometrics for Aadhaar cards between February to August, 2019, at Aadhaar centres, which also doubled up as NRC centres. It was due to a confusion that the biometrics of these people were locked.”

“They were facing problems due to it, like not being able to apply for scholarships, get ration cards, etc. We had been pursuing the matter with the government of India, and it came out with the instruction on Tuesday to UIDAI to issue Aadhaar cards to these people, who are eligible,” he said.

The CM said the UIDAI will start the process of issuing the cards to these 9.35 lakh people within 15-30 days.

Sarma said initially there was confusion over the number of people whose biometrics were blocked, but the UIDAI later clarified that it was of 9.35 lakh people.

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“There was no pattern of whose Aadhaar cards were blocked. It was not on the basis of any community, religion, area, etc. Even many people with names in the final draft NRC had their biometrics blocked.

“It has been established that there is no correlation between NRC and Aadhaar, and hence the Aadhaar cards are being issued,” the CM said, adding, “Had there being any connection, biometrics of all 19 lakh applicants of NRC whose names were excluded from final draft would have been blocked.”