NRC draft leaves out 4 million
Assam, Centre say recourse available to those excluded
GUWAHATI: A little over 4 million people in Assam, out of the 32.9 million in the state who applied to be included in the National Register of Citizens (NRC), have been left out of the complete draft of the contentious document released on Monday, although both the central and the state government were at pains to point out that the register is still a draft and that there is adequate recourse available to those not included.
The NRC, which was first prepared for Assam in 1951, is being updated at the insistence of the Supreme Court, although it has been a longstanding demand of most political organisations in the state.
The register is aimed at distinguishing the state’s citizens from illegal immigrants, mostly from Bangladesh. The first draft of the updated NRC, released on December 31 last year, listed 19 million people.
Registrar General of India Sailesh (one name) and NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela announced in a press conference that out of a total of 32,991,384 applicants, only 28,983,677 were found eligible for inclusion.
“The complete draft has been published under supervision, monitoring and directions of the Supreme Court. It is a legal process and has been conducted in a transparent, fair, objective and meticulous manner,” Sailesh said.
Those whose names are missing include 248,000 doubtful voters whose cases are pending in foreigners tribunals, their siblings and their descendants.
“Adequate opportunity will be provided to the 4,007,707 whose names are not part of the complete draft. I would like to reassure every person that no genuine Indian citizen should have any fear of being left out,” Sailesh said.
“It is a draft and anything which is a draft has to attain finality. Till then status quo will be maintained,” he added.