Overview

• Assam’s cabinet approved a revised SOP that stops first-time Aadhaar enrolment for residents 18 and over effective October 1.
• Adults who have never enrolled get a final window from September 1–30 to apply before the restriction takes hold.
• Post-window, applications will be allowed only in the rarest cases with District Commissioner approval after Special Branch and Foreigners’ Tribunal checks.
• Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and tea-garden communities are exempt for one year, with officials citing overall saturation around 102–103% versus roughly 96% in these groups.
• The government presents the move as an anti-infiltration measure, with the chief minister citing recent pushbacks at the border, as legal questions persist because Aadhaar is administered centrally by UIDAI under the Aadhaar Act.