The Assam government is planning a policy to issue Aadhaar cards to adults only through the district commissioners, said Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday.

“This will ensure that no illegal immigrant can get an Aadhaar made and we can track and push them back easily,” Sarma told reporters following a Cabinet meeting.

The proposal is being discussed and a decision would be taken at a Cabinet meeting in the future, The Indian Express quoted him as saying.

The chief minister said that Assam was “pushing back” 15 to 30 persons to Bangladesh every day, but added that the police had not been able to detain all allegedly undocumented migrants.

He stated that since Aadhaar had been in use in the state for many years, most adults already had one, and only children now needed to apply. Therefore, the proposal to have Aadhaar applications verified by the district commissioner would apply only to adults.

This would ensure that “fresh people coming from Bangladesh will not be able to take them”, he said.

Sarma said that earlier, the unique identification document was issued through Aadhaar centres or sub-divisional commissioner offices. If the proposed policy is implemented, no one will be able to obtain Aadhaar without the approval of the district commissioner.

The chief minister also said that the process of registering births late would also be made stricter.

“Even to be included in voter lists this time, gradually, birth certificates will be required,” he was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. “That’s why we want to make the issuing of birth certificates also tighter… Even cases of availing backdated birth certificates will also go to DCs [district commissioners].”

The Assam government has repeatedly raised concerns about “suspected foreigners” acquiring Aadhaar cards.

In September, Sarma claimed that the number of Aadhaar cards issued had exceeded the projected population in at least four districts: Barpeta (103.7%), Dhubri (103.4%), Morigaon (101.7%) and Nagaon (100.6%), The Telegraph reported.

Watch: ‘Pushed’ into Bangladesh at gunpoint, two Assam residents return to narrate their ordeal

The Assam government has been forcing people over the border into Bangladesh since May. Many of those “pushed” into the country claim they are Indian citizens.

On June 9, Sarma said that more than 330 persons who were declared to be foreigners by the state’s Foreigners Tribunals have been “pushed” back into Bangladesh.

An additional 20 persons were deported on Thursday night, the chief minister said.

The Foreigners Tribunals in the state are quasi-judicial bodies that adjudicate on matters of citizenship. They have been accused of arbitrariness and bias, and declaring people foreigners on the basis of minor spelling mistakes, a lack of documents or lapses in memory.

On May 20, Sarma said that the state was “duty-bound to protect the interests” of Assam and “expel all illegal immigrants from the state through any means and as per directions of [the] Supreme Court”.

The chief minister was referring to the court’s February 4 ruling that the state must deport persons who had been declared foreign nationals.

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