National Register of Citizens: Assam goverment misses 30 June deadline due to heavy floods in Barak Valley

The final draft of Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) was not released as per its 30 June deadline due to heavy floods in the Barak Valley. NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela said Thursday that a petition was filed in the Supreme Court (SC) seeking more time to prepare the draft and the apex court had fixed the date of hearing on 2 July, reported PTI. The NRC is being updated under SC supervision. On Thursday, Hajela told reporters in Guwahati it would not be possible to publish the draft on 30 Juny due to the flood situation in Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts in the Barak Valley, parts of Karbi Anglong and Hojai. “Several NRC Seva Kendras were under water in three districts of Barak Valley," a senior official told  The Economic Times. The wave of floods in Assam has affected more than five lakh people in seven districts and as many as 32 people have lost their lives . ‘Tried our best to complete draft within deadline’ “We tried our best to complete (the draft) within the deadline and recover the time lost due to the floods, but were not able to do so,” Hajela said. “We have made considerable progress in the last few days and will most likely be in a position to publish the draft on the next date fixed by the Supreme Court,” he added. [caption id=“attachment_4544531” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Flood affected villagers are transported in a boat to a safer place in Assam. Reuters[/caption] Replying to a query, he said adequate precautions were being taken to ensure the safety of the documents in the flood-affected areas. Meanwhile, security across the state has been stepped up ahead of the publication of the draft and the state government has sought more security forces from the Centre to prevent any untoward incidents. A team of senior government and police officials, led by Chief Secretary TY Das and Director General of Police (DGP) Kuladhar Saikia, held four meetings in the lower and central Assam districts to review the law andorder situation. Deputy commissioners, superintendents of police, other senior officers of the police, army and paramilitary forces attended those meetings. Problems with the NRC The first draft was released on the intervening night of 31 December and 1 January, in which the names of 1.9 crore of the 3.29 crore applicants were incorporated. The verification of the second draft was completed by 31 May. Of the 3.29 crore applications submitted, there was confusion over the inclusion of 29 lakh people who submitted certificates issued by ‘gram panchayats’ as proof of identity, after a Guwahati High Court order in February deemed ‘panchayat’ certificates invalid, another official said. The final NRC will count only those as Indian citizens who can prove their residency in Assam on or before 21 March, 1971. This means that all those who are not included in the list risk being rendered illegal immigrants. Assam, which faced an influx of people from Bangladesh since the early 20th Century, is the only state that has an NRC which was first prepared in 1951. At that time, the state had 80 lakh citizens. The current exercise started in 2005 under the then Congress regime and got a major push after the BJP came to power with illegal immigration from Bangladesh as one of its poll planks. What happens to those whose names don’t feature in the NRC? According to  News18, those whose names are not in the draft NRC will receive another chance to explain or complain to the authorities. But if their names are not mentioned in the final NRC draft, they will not be declared citizens of India.   They will have to challenge the authorities in foreign tribunals to prove themselves as Indians. ‘Names of all genuine Indians to be included’ On Thursday, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the names of all “genuine Indians” would be incorporated in the NRC list. He also ruled out any possibility of violence after its publication, and said adequate forces were deployed to deal with any situation. “Names of all genuine Indian citizens will be included in the final draft. There should be no apprehension over it,” he told PTI. The chief minister said the state government has provided all assistance to the NRC authorities and the people have also been extending full cooperation to the entire exercise, which is being undertaken under the direct supervision of the SC. The massive exercise aimed at identifying illegal immigrants in Assam, which borders Bangladesh, is being carried out following a 2005 decision after a series of meetings between the Centre and state governments and the influential All Assam Students’ Union (AASU). A six-year agitation demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants was launched by the AASU in 1979. It culminated with the signing of the Assam Accord on 15 August, 1985, in the presence of then-prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. With inputs from PTI