Floods in Assam have delayed the much-anticipated final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) featuring the names of genuine Indian residents in the state which was supposed to be published on June 30.
The NRC state coordinator Pratik Hajeela on Thursday said that it will be missed due to the natural calamity in the Northeastern state. The entire process is being monitored by the Supreme Court which will set a fresh date for the publication on July 2.
The first draft which was published on December 31 in 2017 featured the names of 1.9 crore people out of a total of 3.29 crore living in Assam.
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“Though it was scheduled to be published on June 30, we won’t be able to do that. There is a hearing in this regard in the Supreme Court on July 2, where we will inform the honourable court about it and we will be given a fresh date. The flood has affected the work process in some areas of the state especially after June 13 and for that we are lagging at least eight to 10 days behind,” said Hajeela.
Besides Barak Valley, the NRC work has been affected in Hojai and West Karbi Anglong district due to flood in Assam.
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“Even if it’s not going to be published by June 30, most of the works have been completed and we are hopeful that we will be able to get it published in a very short time. Everything thing will be decided to be the court and we will follow it accordingly,” said Hajeela.
The first NRC was prepared in 1951 after the census of 1951 by recording particulars of all the persons enumerated during that census. Unique to the state of Assam, this document was prepared to distinguish Indian citizens from illegal migrants from then East Pakistan (now, Bangladesh).
Now, the updated NRC will be published to include the names of those persons or their descendants whose names appeared in the NRC, 1951 or in any of the Electoral Rolls up to March 25 of 1971 or in any one of the other admissible documents issued up to midnight of the same period, which would prove their presence in Assam.
The state of Assam has witnessed a prolonged battle against 'illegal immigration', with many political and students’ movements emerging from the struggle.
Though Prateek Hajela had told media recently that nearly 50,000 foreigners and their names will not be featured in the final draft, many suspected it may not be so and the number might go even higher.
A notification from NRC office on May 2 asked the police (border) to refer brothers, sisters and other family members of 'declared foreigners' to the foreigners' tribunals and not include their names in the NRC. Many organizations think that this will increase the number of people whose names will be missing.
