The Mizoram government formed the Drafting Committee for the Mizoram Maintenance of Household Registers Bill, 2026 on February 25, following the rejection of the Mizoram Maintenance of Household Registers Bill, 2019, which was passed by the State Legislative Assembly on March 18, 2019, by the central government.
In a written reply to a question in the legislature, Lalduhoma, who also heads the General Administration Department (GAD), stated that the bill was withheld by the then Governor and refused to give his assent. The then Governor, Prof. Jagdish Mukhi (who was also the Governor of Assam), instead of giving assent to the bill, sent it to the President of India on September 12, 2019.
Mukhi argued that the legislation of the bill falls outside the purview and authority of the state legislature, and therefore referred it to the President as per Article 200 of the Constitution of India. Some legal experts believe that the bill could be used to detect foreigners living illegally in the state, which is beyond the power of the state legislature.
The state government pursued the matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) by requesting them to give assent to the bill, sending four official letters to the Union Home Minister on the matter.
However, the MHA maintained that certain provisions of the 2019 bill fall outside the powers and authority of a state legislature, and advised the Mizoram government to review the bill. The central government subsequently withdrew the bill.
The Drafting Committee for the Mizoram Maintenance of Household Registers Bill, 2026 was formed in February and has been working on revising the bill's provisions to make them acceptable to the central government.