No first-time Aadhaar card for people above 18 in Assam: Himanta

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday declared that individuals above 18 years of age will no longer be eligible for first-time Aadhaar enrolment in the state, barring limited exceptions. The step, he explained, was intended to prevent illegal immigrants from using the Aadhaar system as a stepping stone towards acquiring Indian citizenship.

Following a cabinet meeting in state capital Guwahati, Sarma announced that only a one-month grace period — between 1 and 30 September — will be available for adult residents who have never enrolled for Aadhaar to obtain the document. Beyond that, new Aadhaar registrations for people over 18 will be discontinued permanently, save for a few groups.

Tea Tribes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes above the age of 18 will continue to be eligible for Aadhaar enrolment for another year. The chief minister said this carve-out was necessary because Aadhaar coverage among these communities had not yet reached full saturation.

According to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Aadhaar enrolment is open to all residents of India without any age restrictions; even newborns are entitled to be registered.

Sarma, however, argued that the state government’s move was a safeguard to ensure the integrity of the identity system. "The decision to restrict Aadhaar card issuance is seen as part of the efforts to ensure the authenticity of citizens' identities. This move highlights the government's focus on addressing concerns about potential illegal immigration from Bangladesh in the last one year," he said.

He further explained that if a genuine Indian citizen above 18 were somehow excluded from the Aadhaar framework, they could still apply through the office of the district commissioner, who would verify credentials and authorise Aadhaar only in the "rarest of the rare" cases.

Sarma pointed out that Aadhaar penetration in the general population of Assam now stood at 103 per cent, suggesting that more Aadhaar numbers exist than the state’s actual population. By contrast, coverage among Tea Tribes, SCs and STs was around 96 per cent, leaving a gap that the state sought to close.

Asked to justify the restriction, the chief minister linked it directly to the state’s drive against undocumented immigration. "In the last one year, we have been regularly capturing illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and pushing them back. Yesterday, we pushed back seven people. We do not know if anyone could slip through the security checks and stay back. This is a precautionary measure, so that no illegal foreigner can become an Indian citizen in the future. This is going to be a big deterrent," Sarma said.

He stressed that the measure would be a permanent one and "irrespective of religion or any other criteria", citing the vulnerability of Assam’s border districts to cross-border migration.

Assam’s anti-Bangladeshi drives

The restriction fits into a longer pattern of anti-immigration policies in Assam. For decades, successive governments in the state have launched drives against suspected illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, with varying levels of intensity and controversy.

The 1980s Assam Movement, which culminated in the Assam Accord of 1985, committed the government to identifying and deporting foreigners who entered the state after 25 March 1971.

More recently, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise — concluded in 2019 — sought to separate Indian citizens from undocumented migrants. While it excluded nearly 19 lakh people from the final list, the NRC process itself has been mired in legal disputes and questions of accuracy, leaving its implementation uncertain.

On the ground, routine operations have continued: Assam Police and border guards regularly announce the detection and “push back” of small groups of undocumented Bangladeshis, such as the seven cited by Sarma. However, critics argue that such measures have not substantively stemmed migration flows, while humanitarian concerns about arbitrary detention and statelessness remain.

Jurisdiction and the Aadhaar question

The chief minister’s announcement also raises legal and administrative questions. Aadhaar is governed nationally by the UIDAI under the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016. The law does not empower state governments to unilaterally impose enrolment bans. States do play a role in facilitating enrolment centres and ensuring compliance with verification norms, but ultimate authority lies with UIDAI.

Legal experts note that Sarma’s announcement may therefore be framed as a state-level restriction on operational grounds, but whether it can withstand scrutiny under the Aadhaar Act is unclear.

The UIDAI has consistently maintained that every resident of India, regardless of age, is entitled to enrol, and that Aadhaar itself does not confer citizenship. Critics caution that using Aadhaar as a tool for citizenship determination risks conflating two distinct issues — identity verification and nationality.

By linking Aadhaar restrictions directly with anti-immigrant objectives, Assam’s government has reignited debate on whether state-level measures are overstepping their jurisdiction, and whether such steps will have meaningful impact on the long-standing migration challenge in the region.

With PTI inputs