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Dev's petition says around 21 lakh people in Assam have been deprived of Aadhaar-linked benefits ever since their biometrics were recorded for the NRC. The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from both the Centre and the Assam government on a petition seeking Aadhaar cards for people whose biometrics remain locked despite their names being cleared for the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.
Hearing a plea filed by TMC leader Sushmita Dev, a three-judge bench of Justices U U Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat, and P S Narasimha also issued a notice to the Registrar General of India (RGI) and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). It has asked for the responses by May 17.
Dev’s petition says around 21 lakh people in Assam have been deprived of Aadhaar-linked benefits ever since their biometrics were recorded for the NRC. The lack of Aadhar cards was their ability to obtain basic needs and also “their right to have the quality of life enshrined under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution”, it added.
“Both the final list and the supplementary list (of NRC) have been released and are available in public domain. However, the same is yet to be officially notified by the Registrar General of India, due to which 21 lakh people… are left in the lurch as their biometrics have been frozen and are not being released for the purpose of enrollment of Aadhar number,” the TMC leader’s petition said.
Her petition has also argued that Aadhaar was not proof of citizenship and “any person who has been a resident of the country for 182 days in the preceding 6 months is eligible for its enrollment…”
The matter is now listed for May 17.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Dev has accused the Centre of “dragging its feet”. “This entire episode is an anomaly. Even the state government wants a solution to this,” she said.
She said she recently met a group of youngsters who said they were unable to apply for jobs without an Aadhaar card. “Someone had to take a step on this,” she said, adding while she had failed the petition in December last, it was listed for hearing this month.
The Assam government has also raised the issue with the Centre. The state’s Home and Political departments have written to the Union Home Secretary as well as the RGI twice so far (November 2020 and June 2021).
In March, the Assam government met representatives of 27 organisations and decided to move the Supreme Court on the matter.
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