Assam to focus on Aadhaar enrolment after release of NRC part draft

The Assam government wants to focus on enrolment of residents for Aadhaar after releasing the first part draft of the updated National Register of Citizens on December 31.

Work on the enrolment for Aadhaar had not picked pace in the state over fears that the 12-digit number could be misused by illegal migrants to get enlisted in the register, which aims to weed out foreigners.

Enrolment for Aadhaar had started in Assam as a pilot project in 2014 but it was restricted to only three districts. Only 7.4% of the state’s population of over 34 million has got their Aadhaar numbers till December 31 last year - the lowest enrolment figure among all the 29 states and seven Union territories.

The process was to begin in Assam last month but was stalled after the Centre’s directive to the state not to involve private agencies for enrollment due to safety and privacy issues.

Enrolment for Aadhaar is expected to start from the end of this month or beginning of February. Work on completing the second and final draft of NRC will continue simultaneously.

“To speed up the process, 1,200 enrolment centres will be set up inside premises of government offices. Nearly 48,000 people are expected to get their documents verified and biometric registration done daily in these centres,” said a senior state government official.

People would also be able to get their formalities for the enrolment completed at designated post offices and branches of State Bank of India.

“Due to concerns about security, deputy commissioners of districts will be designated as registrars for enrolment. All documents will be verified by government officials present at the centres,” he said.

If there is a scarcity of equipment to record fingerprints and conduct eye-scans, the state government would be able to hire kits from private agencies.

Once the enrolment process starts, nearly 70% of the state’s population is expected to be covered by the end of the year.