19 lakh people excluded in final Assam citizens’ list

Published : 31 Aug 2019, 12:28

Jagoroniya Desk

INDIA: The final National Register of Citizens (NRC) list in Assam was published on Saturday including names of 3.1 crore people and leaving out 19 lakh names.

The citizens’ list was published amid tightened security and a ban on assembly of more than four people in some sensitive places.

The list has been published in the NRC website. Those who do not have internet connections can go to Seva Kendras set up by the state government to check their status.

“A total of 3,11,21,004 persons found eligible for inclusion in final NRC leaving out 19,06,657 persons including those who did not submit their claims. Those not satisfied with the outcome can file an appeal before Foreigners’ Tribunals,” Prateek Hajela, State Coordinator, NRC was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The draft published on July 30, 2018, included the names of 2.9 crore people out of total applications of 3.29 crore. Forty-one lakh people were left out in the draft.

The publication of the citizens’ list is aimed at identifying whether a person residing in Assam is actually an Indian or a foreigner.

The NRC is a list of all citizens domiciled in Assam and is being updated at present to retain bonafide citizens within the state and evict illegal settlers, purportedly migrants from Bangladesh.

The publication of the final NRC list, which is a sensitive political matter, is likely to stir up a huge gamut of reactions involving a large number of stakeholders.

Keeping in view the far-reaching implications of the move, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has called upon the people of the state to maintain peace and tranquillity.

Sonowal said that those people whose names have been excluded from the proposed NRC would get an opportunity to file their appeals and be heard in the Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) as per the direction of the Union Home Ministry.

“Extension of filing an appeal from 60 days to 120 days to the FT will help all the excluded persons enjoy a level playing field. The government of Assam will take care of the cause of the excluded people and due care will be taken so that nobody is subjected to any unnecessary harassment,” he said.

Assam Director General of Police (DGP) Kuladhar Saikia said that adequate arrangements have been made to ensure that there is no law and order problem post the publication of the NRC.

“The law and order situation is normal across the state. We have already done a sensitivity and vulnerability assessment and asked the concerned police to remain alert. Deployment of forces has been done to ensure that there is no problem,” he said.

The DGP said that apart from the forces of the Assam Police, 218 companies of additional forces have also been deployed to ensure safety and security for all.

The police have declared 14 districts as sensitive areas.

There had been huge backlash from local citizens, who claimed they originally belonged to Assam, when their names went missing from the draft NRC published on 30 July 2018.

Earlier, the first part of the draft NRC, called Part Draft NRC, was published in December 2017 and incorporated the names of 1.9 crore people out of the 3.29 crore applicants.

The final NRC list comes 13 months after the Complete Draft NRC was published on July 30 last year.

The list has been updated for the first time since 1951 by the Registrar General of India in a Supreme Court-monitored exercise.

The update process of NRC started in 2013 when the Supreme Court of India passed orders for its update. Since then, the apex court bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justice R Fali Nariman has been monitoring it continuously. The entire project is headed by the State Coordinator of National Registration, Assam, Prateek Hajela under the strict monitoring of the Supreme Court.

Source: thestatesman

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