Final NRC Published, 19 Lakh Found Ineligible

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: As per the directive of the Supreme Court of India, the people of the State have got the final NRC — an updated version of the 1951 NRC — after 34 years of signing the Assam Accord. And in the process, as many as 19,06,657 applicants have been declared ineligible for inclusion in the final National Register of Citizens, besides adding a tag ‘doubtful’ to their nationalities. Of course, the foreigners tribunals (FTs) can say who, among the 19,06,657 applicants, are foreigners and Indians.

As the clock struck 10, the office of State NRC Coordinator published the final NRC – Supplementary List of Inclusion and Exclusion – online. The hardcopies of only the ‘Supplementary List of Inclusion’ was simultaneously made available in all the NRC seva kendras, circle offices and offices of deputy commissioners.

The applicants who have made it to the complete draft NRC published on July 30, 2018, but not in the ‘Additional Draft Exclusion List’ published on June 26, 2019 nor called for any NRC-related hearing are all eligible for inclusion in the final NRC. They will get their names online in September. The State National Register of Citizens Coordinator is going to announce the date shortly.

After the publication of the final NRC, State NRC Coordinator Prateek Hajela said in a press release that while 3,11,21,004 of the 3,30,27,661 people applied for inclusion of their names in the final NRC through 68,37,660 applications were found eligible for inclusion, 19,06,657 were found ineligible for inclusion. The process of receiving National Register of Citizens application forms started in May-end, 2015 and ended on August 31, 2015. “The exercise of NRC update is a mammoth exercise involving around 52,000 State Government officials working for a prolonged period. All decisions of inclusion and exclusion are taken by these statutory officers. The entire process of NRC update has been meticulously carried out in an objective and transparent manner. Adequate opportunity of being heard has been given to all persons at every stage of the process. The entire process is conducted as per statutory provisions and due procedure followed at every stage,” the release said.

According to the release, following orders from the apex court the complete draft NRC was published on July 30, 2018 with names of 2,89,83,677 NRC applicants. Thereafter claims were received from 36,26,630 persons against exclusion. “Verification was also carried out of persons included in draft NRC under Clause 4(3) of the Schedule of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003,” the release said, and added: “Objections were received against inclusion of 1,87,633 persons whose names had appeared in the complete draft National Register of Citizens. Another additional draft exclusion list was published on 26th June, 2018 wherein 1,02,462 persons were excluded.”

The release has also made it clear that any person not satisfied with the outcome of the claims and objections can file appeal before the foreigners tribunals.

According to the office of the State NRC Coordinator, the process of NRC update in Assam differs from the rest of the country and is governed by Rule 4A and the corresponding Schedule of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. “These rules have been framed as per the cut-off date of 24th March (Midnight), 1971 decided as per Assam Accord,” the release said.

The first-ever NRC was published in 1951 in Assam based on Census Report of 1951 containing names of 80 lakh citizens.

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