35.5L of 40L yet to apply for Assam NRC inclusion

Guwahati, November 18

Over 35.5 lakh people, out of the total 40 lakh, who were excluded in the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC), have not yet come forward to include their names in the final list of the Supreme Court-monitored exercise, sources said Sunday.

Besides, less than 200 applications have been received by the authorities challenging the inclusion of the names of suspected illegal immigrants in the NRC, a list of Assam’s residents, two months after a window was opened for claims and objections.

The Supreme Court recently extended the deadline for filing of claims and objections for draft NRC from November 25 to December 15. The process of filing claims and objections began on September 25.

So far, about 4.5 lakh people have submitted applications for inclusion of their names in the NRC and have submitted relevant documents claiming that they are Indian citizens, a source privy to the development said.

This means, 35.5 lakh people have not yet come forward to claim that they are Indians, probably they may not have proper documents, the source said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had claimed the NRC exercise was carried out with a “political motive” to divide people and warned that it would lead to “bloodbath” and a “civil war” in the country.

Following exclusion of over 40 lakh people in the draft NRC, Banerjee had also said those “Indian citizens have become refugees in their own land”.

Banerjee alleged the NRC was an “attempt to evict the Bengalis from Assam”.

The issue of low turnout in the claims and objections period was also discussed at Saturday’s high-level meeting in New Delhi attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president Amit Shah, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Director of Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain, among others.

The SC has also finalised a set of standard operating procedure (SOP) for disposal of claims and objections in the updation of the NRC.

The draft NRC was published on July 30 and included the names of 2.9 crore people out of the total applications of 3.29 crore.

There has been a huge controversy over exclusion of 40 lakh people from the draft NRC. Initially, the apex court had allowed the claimants to rely on any of 10 listed documents. However, on November 1, the court allowed five additional documents to reply upon for inclusion of names in the NRC.

The exercise, aimed at identifying illegal immigrants in the state that borders Bangladesh, was carried out only in Assam, which faced influx of people from Bangladesh since the early 20th century. — PTI