Over 40 lakh people left out of draft National Register of Citizens in Assam

They include 2.48 lakh Doubtful-voters and their siblings and descendants.

Source: The Hindu

More than 40 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants have been left out of the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

The draft NRC was released in Guwahati on Monday by Registrar General of India Shailesh, and NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela.

As many as 3,29,91,384 people had applied and the applications of 2,89,83,677 were accepted, said Mr. Shailesh.

The final draft of the National Register of Citizens has excluded more than 40 lakh people in Assam (Reuters file photo)

The remaining 40,007,707 applicants, whose names didn’t figure in the list will be given “ample opportunity” through a process of claims and objections till September 28, and their citizenship status will not be questioned till the final, error-free draft is prepared on an unspecified date, Mr. Shailesh and Mr. Hajela said.

Those not on the list include 2.48 lakh Doubtful-voters (D-voters) and their siblings and descendants.

‘List not final’

“The process has been completely transparent, fair, objective and meticulously carried out. Adequate opportunity to all applicants were given,” Mr. Shailesh said.

Reiterating that the list released was only a draft and not the final one, he said, “Reassuring those not in the draft, they will get ample opportunity to file claims and objectives with adequate time. People who lack knowledge will be provided assistance. Full justice will be meted to all.”

No penal action

To a question if those left out in the draft NRC would be intimated, Mr. Hajela said: “We consider them as applicants. Each of them will be sent letters individually for the next step. We are trying to tell them they might have missed out because of some reasons such as unsubstantiated documents. We will provide assistance to them to file claims and objections.”

The names of applicants left out in the list would not be revealed to protect their privacy. “We cannot provide district wise breakup of these 40 lakh for the same reason,” he said, adding that the total expenditure on the NRC exercise since September 2013 was Rs. 1,220 crore.

Satyendra Garg, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, said there would be no penal action against those who missed out until their cases were sorted out. “We want law and order to be maintained, and no one will be allowed to create trouble.”

The draft can be found online at www.nrcassam.nic.in, www.assam.mygov.in, www.assam.gov.in, and www.homeandpolitical.assam.gov.in. The helpline numbers are 15107 (within Assam) and 18003453762.

NRC Assam Final Draft Published: So what exactly is an NRC and why is Assam the only Indian state to have one?

By Rinchen Norbu Wangchuk | Source: The Better India

In a very significant development, the second and final draft of Assam’s National Register of Citizens—a list of all legal citizens of the state—was published today morning at 10:00 a.m.

According to officials, approximately 40 lakh people did not make the final list.

Out of 3.29 crore applicants, 2,89,93,677 were found to be eligible. Principal Secretary, Home, Prateek Hajela and his team of 68,000 government officials, contractual workers and volunteers, completed the herculean task of updating the state NRC for the first time since 1951. Hajela and his team had to develop an entirely new model of updating the NRC, and had no past precedent to fall back upon for the task.

Here are eight things you should know about the NRC.

1) What is the NRC?

As stated above, it’s the record of all legal citizens of a state. The first NRC was conducted in 1951 following the census held in the same year. To the uninitiated, it’s the list of all houses, alongside the names and number of people residing in them, and their assets. Records of the same were initially stored in the offices of Deputy Commissioners and Sub-Divisional Officers, but in the 1960s all those records were transferred to the police, reports News 18.

2) Why is Assam updating its NRC list?

The genesis of this exercise lies in local politics. In the 1980s, there were demands from leaders of indigenous communities to update the list following reports that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh were entering the state in droves, culminating with the signing of the famous Assam Accord on August 15, 1985. The apparent threat to indigenous cultures and changes to the state’s demographic profile were highlighted as reasons.

3) With the matter in court for decades, the Supreme Court on December 17, 2014, finally delivered a judgement which outlined the timeline on which Assam should update and publish its NRC.

The court took on the task of monitoring the exercise. Although June 30, 2018, was slated as the date for the publication of Assam’s final NRC list, floods came in the way, and the State got an extension.

4) Who is eligible?

The State government set March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date to identify those who immigrated into Assam unlawfully from Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan).

People can track their names in the 1951 NRC or the electoral rolls up to 1971. If they cannot find their names in the electoral rolls, applicants must furnish other documents like land tenancy records, certificates of permanent residence and passports, among others to prove they aren’t illegals.

Those born after 1971 must furnish documents related to family members, alongside additional official papers ascertaining their relationship like a birth certificate. In a bid to mitigate tensions, the NRC authorities state that “religion will not come into play while deciding a person’s citizenship.”

Those born after 1971 must furnish documents related to family members, alongside additional official papers ascertaining their relationship like a birth certificate. In a bid to mitigate tensions, the NRC authorities state that “religion will not come into play while deciding a person’s citizenship.”

5) The entire exercise was the handiwork of Hajela and his team of 68,000 officials, including government officials, contractual workers and specialists who ran the NRC Secretariat in Guwahati and 2,500 Nagrik Seva Kendras (NSKs) across the state.

6) NRC State Coordinator has made it amply clear that those who cannot find their names in the final list can reach out to their respective NSKs and submit an application form to file their claim.

These forms will be released at various NSKs on August 7. People, meanwhile, can file their claims anytime between August 30 and September 28.

7) Contradicting rumours spread on various social media platforms, Hajela made it amply clear that those not in the NRC list “will not be sent to detention camps” or Foreigners’ Tribunals. They will have the opportunity to back their claims for citizenship and also submit new evidence for the same.