Centre extends deadline to verify ‘genuine’ Indian citizens in Assam

NEW DELHI: As an edgy Assam gears up to publish the “first” partial draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) by December 31, the Centre has extended the deadline for completion of the entire process of verifying citizens in the state by another five months.

“The date has been extended for financial purposes. The publication of first partial draft is a separate issue which will go on as per the directions of the Supreme Court. But to complete the exercise, funds are required to be allo- cated and therefore the deadline has been extended,” a senior home ministry official said .

The publication of the “part” draft is a major cause of anxiety for many in the state. The issue has become a political hot potato as minorities have expressed fears of being left out.

The SC had recently ordered that this would only be a partial roll of citizens and “the remaining portion” of the draft NRC should be released at a “later date”, which will also be fixed by the court, to include names of those who might be declared noncitizens erroneously and found eligible later.

The purpose of the NRC is to identify genuine Indian citizens residing in the state and those who had illegally migrated from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971, a date agreed in the Assam Accord signed between the then All-assam Students’ Union and the Centre in 1985.

In an earlier notification on March 27 this year, the Centre said that updating of the NRC in Assam shall be completed by December 31. However, on December 19 it came out with another notice which said the “enumeration in the Assam could not be completed within the period specified” earlier.