Guwahati, Dec 12: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that the General Administration Department (GAD) will now serve as the nodal agency for overseeing the verification of Aadhaar applications in the state.

The move comes against the backdrop of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) update, which, on August 31, 2019, excluded over 19 lakh applicants while including 3.11 crore names from a total of 3.30 crore applicants.

Following a cabinet meeting, Sarma stated that an Additional District Commissioner (ADC) would be designated to supervise the Aadhaar verification process in every district.

Under the new protocol, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will forward Aadhaar applications to the state government for verification. The process will begin with the local Circle Officer (CO) assessing whether the applicant, their parents, or family members had applied for inclusion in the NRC.

If no NRC application is found, the Aadhaar request will be immediately rejected, with the decision reported to the central government. In cases where an NRC application is pending, the CO will conduct a field-level verification, adhering to Supreme Court guidelines. Aadhaar will be approved only if the officer is fully satisfied with the verification outcome.

This tightened verification process is seen as a move to ensure stricter scrutiny of applicants, with direct linkage to NRC status, potentially affecting thousands of residents across the state.

Read: Meghalaya govt to ready blueprint to address SSA teachers’ issues by Jan 2025

WATCH:

Find latest news from every corner of Northeast India at hubnetwork.in, your online source for breaking news, video coverage.

Also, Follow us on-

Twitter-twitter.com/nemediahub

Youtube channel- www.youtube.com/@NortheastMediaHub2020

Instagram- www.instagram.com/ne_media_hub

Download our app from playstore – Northeast Media Hub