The Assam government’s decision to make the National Register of Citizens (NRC) application a pre-condition for obtaining an Aadhaar card has drawn strong criticism from opposition parties, who accused Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of turning the state into a "banana republic".
The cabinet’s move, which came on Wednesday, effectively links the NRC with the Aadhaar card, despite the fact that the NRC has not yet been notified by the Registrar General of India.
The new policy stipulates that all Aadhaar applications will be rejected if the applicant or their family has not applied for the NRC, setting the stage for the controversial register to become a de facto prerequisite for the identity card.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev, a native of Assam, raised concerns about the legality of such a move, stating, “The NRC has not been notified by the Registrar General of India to date and questioned making it the basis for Aadhaar.”
She also pointed out that non-citizens who have resided in India for 182 days can obtain an Aadhaar card. “Unless the government declares a person an illegal migrant, how can they refuse AADHAR? Assam is a banana republic under @himantabiswa & @BJP4India,” she posted on social media.
The Assam government’s decision follows accusations from Congress leaders, who have raised alarms over the misuse of public funds. Gaurav Gogoi, deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, noted that fake beneficiaries have been a persistent issue in the state.
“Government data itself shows how crores of public funds were wasted in the implementation of PM Kisan,” Gogoi said in a post on X, a social media platform.
Gogoi also criticised the BJP for allegedly misappropriating state funds. “People in the state are paying GST, cess, and various other duties, but the entire money is being funnelled into the pockets of BJP party members,” he claimed.
In justifying the new policy, Assam Chief Minister Sarma explained that the decision was part of efforts to curb infiltration from Bangladesh. “This decision was taken due to infiltration attempts by citizens of trouble-hit Bangladesh,” he said, as per reports.
According to the new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved by the state cabinet, the government will verify the submitted documents and send them to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) within 45 days.
The final NRC, published on 31 August 2019, excluded 1.9 million people, with 3.1 crore names included from a pool of 3.3 crore applicants. However, the register has not yet been officially validated by the Registrar General of India.
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