Assam: Officers working 24x7 for 'error-free' NRC list

With just three days left for the publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, officers are working round-the-clock to ensure an "error-free" final list, official sources said on Wednesday.

Data compilation is complete and the NRC offices at the district, circle, and block levels are working 24X7 to ensure no bonafide citizen is left out, they said.

The final NRC list will be published on August 31.

"Quality control checks are underway to ensure that the NRC is error-free and this would continue till the last day," sources in the NRC state coordinator's office told PTI.

Officers engaged in the exercise of updating the list are in constant touch with the government departments concerned, including the border police wing and the Foreigners Tribunals (FTs) so that name of any person against whom cases are pending in the tribunals are not included in the NRC.

Meanwhile, the office of the NRC state coordinator issued a notice on Wednesday on how to check the names in the final list.

"Those who submitted claims as they were not included in the complete draft published on July 30, 2018, or excluded by the Additional Draft Exclusion List published on June 26, 2019, and those who had any objection filed against their inclusion, can see their status in the supplementary list of inclusion by visiting designated NSK/office of circle officers/office of deputy commissioners," the notice said.

People can also check their status online by typing their Application Receipt Numbers (ARNs) on the NRC website from August 31 under the title 'Supplementary List of Inclusions/Exclusions Status'.

Those who were included in the complete draft and not excluded in the Additional Draft Exclusion List, but were called for hearings from July 5, 2019, onwards, can also check their status in the same manner, it said.

In addition, people who were not called for the hearings have "no cause to worry about their inclusion status, as they continue to be included in the final NRC", the notice added.

Assam DGP Kuladhar Saikia said the police is "fully prepared" to prevent any untoward law and order situation in the run-up to the publication of the NRC and after.

The state government had on Tuesday said it will provide free legal aid to "needy" people whose names do not figure in it, as it sought to assuage the fears of bonafide Indians who apprehend losing citizenship.

The process of updating of NRC is being conducted by the Registrar General of India. The Supreme Court is monitoring the exercise.

It is for the first time since 1951 that the NRC is being updated in Assam to identify bonafide residents and deport illegal immigrants.

When the draft NRC was published on July 30, 2018, there was a huge controversy over the exclusion of 40.7 lakh people from it. The draft NRC included the names of 2.9 crore people out of the total 3.29 crore applications.

In the list published in June 2019, over a lakh, more people were excluded.

Assam has seen a huge influx of people from Bangladesh since the early 20th century.