Assam is set to miss another deadline for Aadhaar enrolment as the state is yet to give Aadhaar cards to nearly 63 per cent of its residents.
Assam parliamentary affairs minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on Monday informed the state Assembly that according to information furnished by the regional office of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Guwahati, a total of 1,31, 89,592 applicants has been enrolled for Aadhar till December 3, which was only 37.04% of the state's projected total population in 2020.
In his written replies to Congress MLA, Sherman Ali, Patowary said that the deputy commissioners were asked to engage more vendors to complete the Aadhaar enrolment within December this year considering the urgent need to complete the exercise. Sources said that the state is likely to set another deadline as 63% of residents were yet to be enrolled.
Aadhaar enrolment in Assam remained delayed for over four years owing to “citizenship concerns", despite a pilot project in three districts in 2014. The state government even had to seek permission from the UIDAI to exempt residents in the state from mandatory linking of Aadhaar cards with bank accounts and other documents.
The exercise got delayed as many expressed apprehension that illegal migrants might acquire Aadhaar cards and show them as proof of citizenship.
The state government, however, decided to start the process in May 2018 after the Centre clarified that Aadhaar neither confers nor is proof of citizenship.