Now, Karnataka plans to roll out NRC

Karnataka is mulling introducing the National Registry of Citizens (NRC) to identify illegal migrants, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said Thursday.

“Karnataka is a state where a lot of people come from across the border and settle down. There are a lot of issues here. Therefore, we’re collecting all the information. We will discuss with the Union Home Minister and then go ahead,” Bommai told reporters.

Karnataka’s willingness to implement the NRC comes days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the law will be implemented across India to identify illegal immigrants who will be deported.

While it was in the Opposition, the BJP raised hue and cry claiming that thousands of Bangladeshi migrants have settled in Bengaluru illegally. BJP’s Mahadevapura legislator Aravind Limbavali has been demanding NRC-like measures in his constituency for some years now.

On Wednesday, Bommai told reporters in Haveri that two meetings were held on rolling out the NRC. “I’ve asked senior officials to study the law. In Bengaluru and other big cities, foreigners have come, they indulge in crime, and some of them have been arrested as well. We will take a decision (on NRC) this week,” he had said.

In July 2019, the Centre said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha that a detention centre for illegal immigrants will come up in Bengaluru.

The NRC, first implemented in Assam, seeks to verify citizenship status of all those residing in India. In Assam, over 19 lakh persons were excluded from the final NRC list.