Assam hails 'one NRC, one cutoff date'

Guwahati, November 20

Welcoming the Union Home Minister’s statement in the Rajya Sabha that the NRC process would be carried out across India, Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said they favoured one NRC with one cut-off date for the entire country.

“If the cut-off year is 1971, then it should be the same for all states… We are not asking to scrap the Assam Accord. We are saying that Assam should be a part of one national policy” he said. Strongly criticising previous NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela, the minister alleged the entire exercise was carried out unilaterally.

“But the nation thinks that the NRC was updated by the Assam Government. We are bearing the brunt (of criticism) because of one individual… justice was not done to any quarter.” Hajela, an IAS officer, has since been transferred to his home state Madhya Pradesh on the directions of the Supreme Court under whose supervision the NRC was updated. Assam Civil Service officer Hitesh Dev Sarma has been appointed in his place. Over 19 lakh people were excluded from the final NRC. The Assam Government and several political parties claim many of them were bonafide Indian citizens. PTI