Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said the government will stop issuing new Aadhaar cards to adults for the upcoming year.
Why did Assam stop issuing new Aadhaar cards to adults?
CM Sarma said the state cabinet made the decision in order to stop illegal immigrants from Bangladesh from obtaining Aadhaar cards in Assam by disguising themselves as Indian citizens. He pointed out that the Assam government has been pushing back infiltrators along the border continuously and the fresh move will permanently stop these illegal foreigner from acquiring Aadhaar in Assam.
Guwahati, Assam: Addressing a Press Conference , Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says, "...You are originally from Bangladesh and act according to our wishes. That is their game plan, which has been discussed in many articles. Many intellectuals have written that India… pic.twitter.com/pY9KDBR038
— IANS (@ians_india) August 21, 2025
"We want to take protection that no one can obtain an Aadhaar card from Assam by entering into the state and claim to be an Indian citizen. We have completely closed that way," he said, adding that on August 20, seven people were pushed back to Bangladesh. "We do not know if anyone could slip through the security checks and stay back," the CM said.
Sarma pointed out that the Aadhaar saturation of people in general category in the state is 103 per cent, which shows that the number of cards have exceeded the number of total people. He said curb on first-time Aadhaar cards to adults will be permanent as Assam is vulnerable to infiltration.
Why are SC, ST and tea garden workers exempted?
Chief Minister Sarma clarified that people belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and tea garden workers are exempted from this. The exemption comes as the saturation percentage for tea tribe, SC and ST communities is 96 per cent and several people in these categories are yet to get Aadhaar cards.
For those belonging to other categories, the government has given time till September 30 to apply for Aadhaar if they have not received it yet.
In extremely rare cases, the District Commissioner will be authorised to issue Aadhaar card after the application window is closed. This will be done after verifying the Special Branch report adn the Foreigners Tribunal report.
