New Delhi, Sep 23: Delhi BJP today sought Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna's intervention to ensure that no illegal migrants including those from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria are issued Adhaar numbers, which are being currently issued to residents in the city.
Senior BJP leader V K Malhotra, in a letter to Khanna, urged him to direct concerned authorities to carry out strict verification of people before issuance of Adhaar numbers.
“It should be ensured that Adhar numbers are not issued to illegal immigrants including the Bangledeshis, Pakistanis or Nigerians who are staying illegally as it would be impossible to identify them after numbers are issued to them,” he said in the letter.
Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique number which the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is issuing for all residents in India. The UIDAI is storing basic demographic and biometric information - photograph, ten fingerprints and iris scan - of each individual, being issued the number, in a central database.
Welcoming issuance of Adhaar numbers to genuine citizens, Malhotra alleged that people not having any identity proof are producing affidavit to authorities to procure Aadhaar numbers and it is resulting in allowing a number of Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Nigerian and other illegal immigrants to procure the number.
According to one estimate, five to 15 lakh Bangladeshis are living illegally in Delhi and areas around it. The Supreme Court and the High Court have repeatedly issued directions for the identification and deportation of these illegal residents,” he said.
Delhi government in cooperation with UIDAI has already set up centres across the city to collect demographic and biometric details of the residents.
On the possibility of Adhaar numbers being issued to illegal migrants, UIDAI chief Nandan Nilekani had on many occasions in the past said that the number is meant for identifying a person and is not proof of the his or her citizenship. PTI
