Manipur reviews Aadhaar enrolment process to curb illegal immigration

Advertisement

The administration was noted that each case of adult Aadhaar had to be mandatorily scrutinised and cleared only at the state headquarters level in the office of special secretary (Home).

The review of Aadhaar enrolment procedure was undertaken during a high-level meeting at Raj Bhavan on July 1.

The state is currently under President’s Rule. It was also noted in the meeting that Manipur's adult Aadhaar process is perhaps the most stringent in the country and the high quality checks ensure that no illegal foreigners are able to obtain the document, sources aware of the development said.

The process, they informed, is based on the guidelines of the Union Home Ministry and UIDAI, and rigorous scrutiny ensures that approval is granted for seeking an Aadhaar card in the state only after detailed verification of applications.

Also, to maintain the security and integrity of the Aadhaar ecosystem, two mandatory updates have been implemented for biometric and biographic data. This entails mandatory biometric updation between age group of 5 years to seven years, technically called (MBU-1) and another updation after reaching the age of 15 years, known as MBU-2, to keep Aadhaar active.

These checks ensure that Aadhaar holders' information remains secure and updated, preventing its misuse. A senor state government official further informed that updating biometric data enhances security and provides seamless access to government and financial services without facing authentication issues.

The review meeting also came amid constant allegations from political quarters, that illegal immigration from neighbouring Myanmar into Manipur, has been one of the most significant reasons behind ethnic violence in the state.

To tighten movement to and from the state into Myanmar, the Centre last year in December had started issuing passes to people who travel from Manipur into the neighbouring nation and vice versa under the revised free movement regime.

Under the revised free movement regime with Myanmar, border residents are now required to have QR code-enabled passes with recorded biometrics for crossing the border. These details, including biometrics, are uploaded to a centralized portal for verification against any negative lists.

Under this arrangement, border passes are issued to people from both Myanmar and India who intend to cross into each other territories, mainly to visit their relatives.

These single-entry border passes are issued after checking their residential details (of within 10 km of the border and issued by the local police station or village authorities), photographs and biometrics. These passes are valid for seven days and are meant for movement within 10 km of the borders of either sides.

Once the users return, they have to deposit these passes at the border crossing points.