Unblocked: Over 9.35 lakh will get Aadhar cards in Assam

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) blocked the biometrics of 9,35,682 people who applied for Aadhar cards from February 2019 to August 2019 ahead of the publication of the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
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Image used for representative purposes(File photo | PTI)
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GUWAHATI: After a wait of five years, over 9.35 lakh people in Assam are set to get their Aadhar cards.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the media on Wednesday that the Centre had decided to unfreeze their biometrics so they get their Aadhaar cards.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) blocked the biometrics of 9,35,682 people who applied for Aadhar cards from February 2019 to August 2019 ahead of the publication of the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

“We checked and found that the blocking of biometrics had no correlation between NRC and Aadhar. They blocked the biometrics of everyone who applied for Aadhar cards from February 2019 to August 2019. These are people from across communities. The Aadhar cards of even those, who made it to NRC, were blocked,” said Sarma.

He said the 9.35 lakh people, who would now get their Aadhar cards, may include a few thousand who were excluded from the NRC. Over 3.3 crore people had applied for NRC and 19.06 lakh of them were excluded.

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Over one crore MGNREGS job cards yet to be Aadhar-linked: Centre

“The 9.35 lakh Aadhar applicants went through a lot of problems all these years. They complained that as Aadhar cards had been denied to them, they were deprived of ration cards, scholarships and various government facilities,” the Assam CM remarked.

He also said that considering their plight, the state government had constituted a cabinet sub-committee and it, in due course, discussed the matter with various organisations of the state.

“They agreed that NRC and Aadhar do not have any direct connection and if this stream of people have access to Aadhar cards, they will not have any objection,” stated Sarma.

“We had been in touch with the central government for the past two years and on July 29 last, the Centre advised us to formally take up the matter with it. We submitted a proposal and the Centre took the advice of the Solicitor General based on our letter. Yesterday, the Centre directed UIDAI to issue the Aadhar cards,” he said.

He added that the applicants would be able to collect their Aadhar cards from the centres where they had applied for the same.

“A long-standing issue has been resolved as the Centre removed the barrier. I had raised the matter before the Union home minister (Amit Shah). He could understand the problem. I thank him on behalf of the state government,” Sarma further mentioned.

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