The Centre will send more armed police forces to Assam as the deadline for the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) nears. A senior Home Ministry official said the State had requested additional forces, which were being sent as per the “assessment and availability.” The situation was not alarming but these were precautionary steps.
A source said the Centre might move the Supreme Court to extend the deadline for the publication of the final draft from June 30 to July 8. “The State is affected by floods and there are several areas where the enumeration has been impacted. We need more time to complete the process.” As per the court direction, the Registrar-General of India is to publish the final list on June 30 to segregate Indian citizens from those who illegally entered the State from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971.
“When the first draft was published on December 31, there were no law and order incidents reported. We have made adequate arrangements and forces would be on standby for the publication of the final draft,” said the official.
“There are concerns in the State that those names that do not appear in the list cease to be Assamese citizens. There is another stage of claims and objections. If anyone has been excluded they can avail this option,” said the official.
He explained that after the claims and objections have been rejected, the trial of such subjects would be held at Foreigners Tribunals. “There are around 100 such Tribunals in the State and till now we have not received any request from the Assam Government for creation of new ones,” said the official.
The final draft will be put up at over 3,000 government “seva kendras” and be also be available on the website of RGI.
The exercise to update the NRC is being carried out in Assam following a decision in 2005 after a series of meetings between the Central and State governments and the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) in an attempt to document the bona fide Indian citizens living in Assam.
When the NRC was first prepared in Assam in 1951, the State had 80 lakh citizens.
A six-year agitation demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants was launched by the AASU in 1979. It culminated in the signing of the Assam Accord on August 15, 1985 in the presence of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
