It was a bittersweet relief for Biswas Singh, a young man from Namrup, Assam, when he regained access to his biometrics and Aadhaar number last month. He had submitted his biometrics in 2019, when his state was still implementing the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
After spending the last eight months searching for work and hitting dead ends due to his inability to furnish an Aadhaar number, Singh hopes this long-awaited resolution will finally allow him to secure a decent job.
Last month, the Registrar General of India, operating under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, instructed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to unlock the biometrics of 9,35,682 residents in Assam.
During the 'Claims and Objections' round under the NRC process in Assam, the government claimed that over 27 lakh people had submitted their biometric data, out of more than 40 lakh people who were excluded from the draft NRC. This process was an opportunity for those excluded to provide additional documents to prove their citizenship and potentially be included in the final NRC list.
In the final NRC published on August 31, 2019, more than 19 lakh people were excluded in total. However, as per the state government, a group of 9.35 lakh individuals has had their biometrics locked since then.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said at a recent press conference that this occurred due to confusion. “We were under the impression that the UIDAI had frozen the biometrics of about 27 lakh people but they told us the figure was 9,35,682,” the Chief Minister said, adding the names of these people are included in the NRC.
The state initially believed these 9.35 lakh individuals were part of the 19 lakh excluded from the NRC, the CM said.
Sarma denied any link between the NRC and Aadhaar, stating, "If there were a connection, the biometrics of all 19 lakh excluded NRC applicants would have been blocked."
As Sarma said, this group included people who had submitted biometrics for Aadhaar enrollment between February and August 2019. “They had the misfortune of applying during the period when UIDAI applied the freeze,” he said.
Speaking to Decode, advocate Abhijeet Choudhary added that individuals with locked biometrics also included some of those who had testified during NRC hearings for other family members, despite already being listed themselves.
Giving an example of such a case, he said, “In one case, a young boy’s name was excluded from the draft NRC, even though his entire family was listed. When his father went to prove his son's citizenship, his own biometrics were locked, while the son's biometrics remained unaffected.”
Choudhury, a lawyer at the Barpeta district court in Assam, has been representing individuals with locked biometrics for some time. Additionally, the group includes individuals like Singh, who were initially left out of the draft NRC and had to provide their biometrics for verification before being included in the final version.
As of now, there has been no official communication from the government or UIDAI regarding whether individuals beyond the '9.35 lakh' group still have their biometrics locked.
Singh's experience illustrates the devastating consequences of a system where something as fundamental as a government ID can unravel a life. After completing his education in 2022, Singh landed a customer support job in Bengaluru. But trouble arose when his employer repeatedly requested his Aadhaar number to open an Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) account—an essential requirement for most jobs in India. Due to his locked biometrics, Singh was unable to provide it.
Singh had faced repeated rejections in his job search for the same reason.
“I couldn’t provide it due to circumstances beyond my control,” he explained. His employer did not terminate him immediately, instead demoted him to an intern position where he could earn a stipend, which did not require an EPF account. “I was earning less, but given the situation, it was still something,” he said. However, the company only agreed to this arrangement for a year, and in December 2023, Singh was let go.
Despite repeated attempts, including traveling between Bengaluru and Assam to resolve the issue, Singh could not get an Aadhaar card made. “The Bengaluru Aadhaar centre said they couldn’t enroll me because my biometrics were locked, while officials in Assam kept passing the buck,” he shared.
It was only last month that his situation improved, but not before he had faced significant professional setbacks.
“I’ve been unable to apply for jobs or open a bank account without Aadhaar,” he said, adding that his job search is still ongoing, though he is more optimistic now.
Singh is not alone in his struggles. Thousands of residents of Assam have faced similar obstacles due to their locked biometrics. Many have been unable to access critical services, including jobs, scholarships, and social welfare schemes.
Lost Opportunities, Life at a Standstill
Decode previously reported on how individuals with locked biometrics have been denied access to employment, government schemes, and other essential services. Over the past five years, the situation has left many struggling to lead a decent life, as Aadhaar is essential for accessing various critical services, yet their biometric data remains inaccessible.
Jeherin Nesha, a PhD student from Margherita, Assam, faced challenges too. Awarded the Maulana Azad National Fellowship in 2022, Nesha was unable to access the funds due to her locked biometrics. Despite approaching both local and national authorities, including the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Nesha waited for almost two years for the funds which are meant to support students from six minority communities pursuing advanced degrees.
Now that she has finally received her Aadhaar number, she is hopeful that her fellowship funds will be released. “I linked my scholar portal with Aadhaar as soon as my biometrics were unlocked,” she said. However, since the funds had been delayed for nearly two years, Nesha still needed to submit an exception letter to the authorities, explaining the reasons for the delay.
Nesha's name was removed from the ration card list, and she was unable to access healthcare benefits under the Ayushman scheme. “It’s been a long struggle, but I hope this phase is finally behind us,” she said.
For Sarjina Begum, a government employee in Assam’s Forest Department, the financial impact was significant. Begum was unable to file her income tax returns as she could not link her Aadhaar to her PAN card, a mandatory requirement in India. This led to substantial Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) from her income. “I lost a chunk of my income over the last five years because I couldn’t file my taxes,” she shared.
TDS is a system where the payer deducts tax at the time of making a payment, such as salary, rent, or interest, and deposits it directly with the government on behalf of the payee. The payee can claim the deducted amount as a credit against their total income tax liability when filing their income tax return.
Despite reaching out to local officials, Begum found no solution. “I was informed that the officials who had been working on the NRC have been reassigned to other roles after the work halted. As a result, there's no one to handle the task of unlocking the biometrics of those who were reinstated in the final NRC," she said.
In both Nesha and Begum’s families, they were the only members whose biometrics remained locked because they had initially been excluded from the draft NRC in 2018.
NRC And Aadhaar
The history of the NRC in Assam predates its recognition in the rest of the country, where the acronym gained prominence following the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December 2019.
Assam’s NRC builds on the 1985 Assam Accord, which stemmed from a six-year anti-foreigners' agitation, stipulating that anyone unable to prove they or their ancestors entered the country before midnight on March 24, 1971, would be declared a foreigner in Assam. This date marks the onset of the war leading to Bangladesh's creation.
On August 31, 2019, Assam released its National Register of Citizens, aimed at identifying "legal" migrants who entered the state before March 25, 1971, and have lived there since. This Supreme Court-monitored process, which began in 2013, left 19,06,657 individuals off the list, leaving their citizenship uncertain.
For those excluded from the draft NRC, the state government introduced a standard procedure allowing them to file fresh claims of citizenship. As part of this process, the State Government, in collaboration with UIDAI, conducted biometric enrollment for all NRC applicants.
However, a larger question arises: how did Aadhaar, which is not a marker of citizenship, became entangled in a highly contested process like the NRC?
Advocate Choudhury explained that this happened because there was no other infrastructure to store biometric data at that time. “For the purpose of accurately verifying the identities of individuals claiming citizenship, the government tied up with UIDAI, the agency responsible for issuing Aadhaar numbers, for collecting biometric data,” he said.
Choudhury further explained, “Unlike the rest of India, Aadhaar enrollment in Assam did not begin until 2018 due to the NRC process. As a result, those individuals who had their biometrics locked were unable to generate an Aadhaar number after NRC ended, as the system indicated their biometrics were already in the database.”
The advocate pointed out that some Assam residents had obtained Aadhaar cards outside the state before 2018. "These individuals only needed to submit their Aadhaar numbers during the NRC process and were thus exempted from the entire biometric freezing issue," he explained.
Notably, Aadhaar has never served as proof of citizenship or domicile. In a landmark 2018 Aadhaar ruling, the Supreme Court had clarified this under Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016.
The Apex Court had held that the central or state government can only require Aadhaar to establish identity for subsidies, welfare services, or filing income tax returns (which mandates linking PAN cards with Aadhaar). The court also clarified that Aadhaar data cannot be collected arbitrarily under the guise of national security, and any such request must be authorised by a judicial officer.
In a recent case, the UIDAI also told the Calcutta High Court that granting of Aadhaar cards has nothing to do with citizenship.
Resolution Still Pending For Many
Speaking to Decode, Habibullah Bepari, an activist affiliated with Citizens for Justice and Peace, a non-profit organisation in Assam, highlighted that over 5 lakh, of the 9 lakh people whose biometrics were locked, have now regained access.
However, the process remains incomplete for many. Bepari emphasised that these individuals have faced extraordinary hardships due to the delays. “People’s names were removed from ration cards, they couldn’t apply for loans, and job opportunities were lost,” he said.
Biplab Karmakar, a resident of Abhayapuri in Assam, is among those whose Aadhaar number has yet to be generated, but he remains hopeful for a resolution soon.
Karmakar, who graduated in 2020, has been unemployed for years due to the issue. "Our names were removed from ration cards, we couldn’t apply for loans, and we lost out on job opportunities. I am glad the state government finally took the initiative to involve the Union Home Ministry and got our biometrics unlocked," he said.
Karmakar had also created a WhatsApp group with over 190 members to discuss developments related to the issue. "We were very disheartened after multiple PILs yielded no results," he recalled.
Sushmita Dev, former MP of Silchar, was among the first to file a writ petition before the Supreme Court, arguing that anyone who has lived in India for 182 days is entitled to an Aadhaar card, regardless of citizenship status. Similar petitions were filed by Citizens for Justice and Peace and a member of Karmakar’s group, whose PIL was crowdfunded by the same members.
Bepari emphasised that their petition was based on the legality that “Aadhaar is not a function of citizenship”. He noted that since the resolution was not based on any PIL, the issue could have been resolved much earlier. "The government is the same at both the state and central levels," he added.
The activist also pointed out the technical challenges that persist for Assam residents —Many people do not have their NRC enrollment ID or have changed mobile numbers, making it difficult to check if their biometrics have been unlocked on the Aadhaar portal. This leaves many residents in a state of confusion and uncertainty.
Additionally, in 2018, people were required to submit ID proofs during the NRC process. For some, the portal now indicates that those proofs were marked as "insufficient", resulting in their enrollment being rejected at that time. However, no notification was provided regarding this issue back then. These individuals are now required to re-enroll for Aadhaar.
Those who no longer have their previous mobile number and their enrollment ID may not even realise they need to re-enroll, leaving them in a state of limbo, Bepari said.
“For many, the wait and uncertainty continue. The only option left is to check at local post offices to see if their Aadhaar cards have been delivered,” he added.
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