Following the tensions due to the India-Pakistan conflict, the government of Gujarat, as per The Times of India, is drafting a standard operating procedure (SOP) for verifying the identities of its workers.
As per the proposed plan, all employers will be mandated to submit the identification documents of their workers to the police. Any employer failing to do so will face penal action. The reports add that, in case of forged documents submitted by employees, employers will not be held liable for the breach in law.
Through this new identification verification procedure, the government of Gujarat reportedly seeks to cover all employees, including company employees, pan shop workers, labour contractors, and individuals availing domestic help. Harsh Sanghavi, Gujarat’s minister of state for home, held a meeting with top police officials on Tuesday, which included commissioners and district superintendents.
The SOP comes after the Gujarat police cracked down on potential illegal immigrants in the state, following the Pahalgam attack on April 22, 2025. On April 26, 2025, Ahmedabad police detained 890 people on suspicion of being illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Similarly, the Surat police rounded up 134 on the same charges.
“The recent clampdown on illegal immigrants revealed that a majority of them had been living in Gujarat for a long period, which means they were associated with some economic activity to earn a living,” a top official told the Times of India.
As per Gujarat authorities, four of the people apprehended were linked to criminal activities, with two suspected al-Qaida sleeper cell operatives. One Bangladeshi national was also revealed to have acquired an Indian passport using forged documents, a situation that Gujarat likely does not want a repeat of.
“It will be mandatory for employers to collect copies of identification documents such as Aadhaar card, ration card, voter identification card, etc, of all employees. They will have to maintain a record of these documents and provide copies of these to the nearest police official,” another source shared, adding, “Instructions regarding these new guidelines have been communicated to all the commissionerates and district superintendents of police. An SOP is also being drafted by the home department and will be circulated to all authorities shortly.”