Assam to urge RGI to allow use of biometric data locked in NRC process

The Assam government on Tuesday informed the state assembly that it has written to the Centre regarding non-issuance of Aadhaar cards to persons whose biometric details were collected during the process for updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) but their names did not appear in its final draft. 

It said the matter will be further pursued with the Registrar General of India (RGI) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

State Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ranjeet Kumar Dass said, The data was locked as per a standard operating procedure (SOP) for updating the NRC. We are aware that people are facing problems in generating their Aadhaar cards due to this.

He said the Assam government had written to the RGI to share the biometric details with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in November last year so that the Aadhaar cards can be issued to them.

Another letter was sent to the RGI on the same matter after the current state government assumed charge in May this year but a reply is still awaited, he said.

Dass added, We will write to the RGI and MHA once again as we are fully aware that many people are facing problems due to it.

AIUDF legislator Aminul Islam had raised the matter in the Assembly during Zero Hour, pointing out that many people are being deprived of benefits under government schemes as they do not have Aadhaar cards which are mandatory to be linked to their bank accounts for availing the benefits.

The biometric details of over 27 lakh NRC applicants were collected during the claims and objections phase while updating the NRC, which is yet to be notified by the RGI.

Out of the 27 lakh applicants, 19 lakh names were not included in the final draft NRC published on August 31, 2019, and these people are now facing problems in generating Aadhaar as their biometric data has since been frozen, pending completion of the NRC.