NRC Coordinator under fire For his suggestion to Supreme Court

GUWAHATI: NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela has come under fire from the ruling and opposition parties for suggesting to the Supreme Court to curtail the number of documents required to prove Assamese identity for the claims and objections process.

The apex court on September 5 had deferred till further orders the commencement of the process of receiving claims and objections for the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and sought the Centre's response on the suggestion that any one of the 10 documents can be used by claimants to prove legacy.

A bench of justices Ranjan Gogoi and R F Nariman had perused the report of Assam's NRC coordinator and said it was agreeable to his suggestions that any one of the 10 of a total 15 documents provided in List-a of the claim form can be used by the claimants to prove

legacy.

Leader of Opposition in Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia has sought Hajela's removal for suggesting to the apex court to dispense with the 1951 NRC and pre-1971 voters' lists of Assam while dealing with claims and objections relating to omission of over 40

lakh names from the complete draft of the NRC published on July 30.

The Congress leader, in a press release, said the eligibility criteria framed for the NRC by various stakeholders, including the government, had specifically listed the 1951 NRC and pre-1971 voters' lists as the first two among the important documents for the purpose of verification and these were even mentioned in the relevant part of the Rules, 2003.

"It is consequently logical to attribute a malafide motive to Hajela's arbitrary recommendation to drop these two important documents from the verification process," he alleged.

Many people, especially those with economic and educational backwardness, did not anticipate that a day would come when the presence of the names of their ancestors in the 1951 NRC and pre-1971 voters lists would not be sufficient to prove their citizenship, the opposition leader said.

Changing the eligibility criteria at such an advanced stage of the NRC process is against the demands of natural justice, the Congress leader said.

The opposition leader urged all parties involved in the ongoing Nrc-related proceedings in the Supreme Court to keep this aspect in view while submitting their views on Hajela's proposal at the next date of hearing.

Congress MLA Kamalakhaya Dey Purkayastha has demanded Hajela's arrest for making this suggestion.

"He has gone against the interest of the people. The NRC is not his personal document but for the public, for Assam," he told reporters.