Assam prints first legal citizens’ list
◗ The first draft of the NRC has been prepared with the names of those whose document verification has been completed
A long- awaited list to separate the genuine residents of border state Assam and illegal Bangladeshi immigrants was released on Sunday midnight. The first draft of the National Register of Citizens ( NRC) contains names of 1.9 crore citizens.
The remaining 1.39 crore names are still going through the process of verification.
Registrar general of India Sailesh, who himself was present when the first draft the NRC was released, told reporters that the final draft would be published this year itself.
The process of the NRC update had started in December 2013 and the applications for it were invited in May- June 2015. The last date of submission of applications was August 31, 2015.
Altogether, 3.29 crore residents of Assam had applied for inclusion of their names in the registry after verification of documents and family tree, and around 6.6 crore documents were submitted by the applicants. The first draft of the NRC has been prepared with the names of those whose document verification has been completed. NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela said that the response from other states has not been very encouraging.
In what was awaited for the last so many years, a list to separate the genuine residents of border state Assam and illegal Bangladeshi immigrants was released on Sunday midnight. The first draft of the National Register of Citizens ( NRC) contains names of 1.9 crore citizens.
The remaining 1.39 crore names are still going through the process of examination, scrutiny and verification.
Registrar general of India Sailesh, who himself was present when the first draft the NRC was released, told reporters that the final draft will be published this year itself.
The process of the NRC update had started in December 2013 and the applications for it were invited in May- June 2015. The last date of submission of applications was August 31, 2015.
Altogether, 3.29 crore residents of Assam had applied for inclusion of their names in the registry after verification of documents and family tree, while around 6.6 crore documents were submitted by the applicants. The first draft of the NRC has been prepared with the names of those whose document verification has been completed.
NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela said that the response from other states has not been very encouraging. Around 5.5 lakh documents were sent to other states for verification, but only around 1.5 lakh were returned.
Mr Hajela, however, reiterated that people who do not find their names in the draft National Register of Citizens need not panic as two more draft NRC lists will be released before the final one is published.
“There would also be provisions for claims and objections,” he added.
Meanwhile, a large number of people came out in rural Assam on Monday morning to verify their names at NRC help centres.
The demand for updating the National Register of Citizens of 1951 was first raised in 1980 when the All Assam Students’ Union submitted a memorandum to the Government of India in the beginning of the Assam movement.
But no decision was taken by the Centre at that time. In a tripartite meeting to review the implementation of the Assam Accord, chaired by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2005, a decision to update the NRC was taken.
On Monday, the state government had made elaborate security arrangement for smooth publication of the draft NRC. It is significant that Assam, which has faced an influx from Bangladesh since the early 20th century, is the only state having an NRC, first prepared in 1951.
When the NRC was first prepared in Assam in 1951, the state had 80 lakh citizens.
The massive influx from Bangladesh triggered a six- year- long agitation demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants from the state.
The Assam agitation, which started in 1979 culminated with the signing of the Assam Accord on August 15, 1985, in the presence of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
In the Assam Accord, it was agreed that all foreigners who had entered Assam between 1951 and 1961 would be given full citizenship, including the right to vote.
Assam, which has faced an influx from Bangladesh since the early 20th century, is the only state having an NRC, first prepared in 1951. The process of the NRC update had started in December 2013