The Assam Cabinet on Saturday decided to stop issuing new Aadhaar cards to adults to curb allegedly fraudulent enrolment by undocumented immigrants.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that while Assam had “already saturated so far as Aadhaar is concerned”, the enrolment for the document had “crossed 100% of the targets” in some districts.

“Some districts [the issuance] has gone up to 114%, 115%,” Sarma said at a press conference. “So, there is every apprehension that even after 100% saturation, who are taking these Aadhaar cards. We want to fully prove that no illegal immigrants are taking advantage of Aadhaar.”

Aadhaar is a unique 12-digit identity number issued to residents of India by a statutory body, the Unique Identification Authority of India.

The chief minister said that the Cabinet has decided to stop issuing Aadhaar to persons older than 18 years. Minor will continue to be issued the document.

The decision will not be immediately applicable to the Scheduled Tribes and the tea garden community, whose members would need to enrol by March 31, the Cabinet said.

In case of a “genuine person” wanting an Aadhaar card, the deputy commissioner would have to send a proposal that would be approved by the state government, Sarma said.

The Assam government had in August announced plans to stop issuing Aadhaar to adults. The Cabinet...

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