New Aadhaar applicants in Assam must submit NRC application number, says CM Himanta Sarma

All new applicants for Aadhaar cards in Assam need to submit their NRC application receipt number (ARN), Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday.

''Applications for Aadhaar cards are more than the population...It indicates that there are doubtful citizens, and we have decided that new applicants will have to submit their NRC application receipt number (ARN)", the chief minister said at a press conference in Guwahati.

This will "stop the influx of illegal foreigners" and the state government will be ''very strict" in issuing



Aadhaar cards, he said.

"It will not be easy to get Aadhaar in Assam", Sarma said.

Submission of the NRC application receipt number will not be applicable to the 9.55 lakh people whose biometrics were locked during the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process, and they will get their cards, he added.

Sarma also said his government will "intensify the process of identification of illegal foreigners as several Bangladeshis were apprehended in the last two months and handed over to the authorities of the neighbouring country.