Like her, many in the state’s villages have received such letters – an exact figure is unavailable – prompting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to declare that alternative identity cards will be given to those who have their Aadhaar deactivated, and allege that the BJP was primarily targeting members of the Matua community.
The letter received by villagers states: “Aadhaar number issued to you has been deactivated under the provisions of regulation 28A of Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations, 2016, for the reason that the requirements for your stay in India are not fulfilled. Any complaint in respect of such deactivation may be addressed through the grievance redressal mechanism set up by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in its regional offices.”
Regulation 28A states: “In respect of a foreign national who is seeking enrolment or is an Aadhaar number holder, Aadhaar number may be deactivated (a) upon expiry of the period of validity of their visa for stay in India; or (b) where the Authority is satisfied that such foreign national does not fulfil the requirements for his entry into or stay in India under the Passport (Entry into India) Act… and guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs in this regard from time to time.”
About a 15-minute drive to Kalupukur village, Mamata Mistri (24), wife of tea shop owner Mrityunjoy, recalled, “My husband and I went to the BDO office (to find a solution) and were told we need to mail the Aadhaar office. We then went to a local cyber cafe but the link was down.”
Her neighbour Anita Mistri (30) and her husband Gopal (45) also received such letters. “There are so many rumours – some are saying this is the first step to NRC and CAA. That we will lose citizenship. There is so much confusion. I am scared,” said Anita.
At the Jaugram panchayat office, the pradhan, Mallika Mondol, said she has information of 60 people receiving such letters. “I am in touch with the BDO over this. The chief minister has opened a portal for such people. We are making a list and asking people not to spread rumours. In neighbouring Abujhati 1 gram panchayat, there are about 40 such people,” said Mondol.
On Wednesday, Amio Kumar Das, the ADM (general) of Purba Bardhaman, visited some villages and handed over a letter by the CM, assuring that no one will be deprived of services or benefits.
The ‘Aadhaar Grievances Portal’ was launched on February 20. A day later, Banerjee said, “This is Bengal, so we are able to stop the conspiracy to cancel Aadhaar. They had plans to implement NRC in this state. First they introduced this card and then started cancelling. Once it is cancelled, you will be labelled as a foreigner, sent to a detention camp and then you have to prove yourself that you are a citizen of this country. They started deactivating Aadhaar of Matua communities. All these are political plays.”
As the row gained momentum, the Centre issued a clarification via the Press Information Bureau: “Aadhaar, as the most commonly used digital identity, is used to avail of numerous subsidies, benefits and services. In view of the same, for maintaining the accuracy of the Aadhaar database, UIDAI had initiated an exercise for update of documents and Aadhaar information. In the course of activities undertaken to keep the Aadhaar database updated, intimations are issued from time to time to Aadhaar number holders. In this connection, it is clarified that no Aadhaar number has been cancelled. In case any Aadhaar number holder has any grievance in this regard, they may submit their feedback to UIDAI. Any such grievance will be duly addressed.”
Union Minister Shantanu Thakur, who is also from the Matua community, said the “Union Home Ministry has already clarified that the deactivation process has stopped and those whose cards have been deactivated will get them back”.
“I have been given the responsibility to take applications from people, where you just need to write your name, phone number and Aadhaar number and state that it has been deactivated. I will submit it to the Home Ministry and the issue will be resolved. I have already apologised that it was due to some technical fault,” he said on February 18.
The same day, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Suvendhu Adhikari, posted online: “I convey my regards and gratitudes to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw for reversing the deactivation of Aadhaar cards by the UIDAI Ranchi Regional Office. I had spoken to both of them and also had sent a letter to Vaishnaw ji in this regard. They have assured me that all the deactivated cards will be reactivated within 24 hours. It seems that the higher level officials and the ministry were completely unaware of such a step taken by the Regional Office at Ranchi. An investigation is likely to be conducted to unearth the truth and to ascertain whether any conspiracy was hatched before the polls.”’