Updated: October 14, 2020 7:45:35 pm
The NRC process has hit a stone wall as of now as the rejection orders to the 19 lakh of excluded people have not yet been issued, which will allow them to appeal against the exclusion in the Foreign Courts.
The authorities of the National Citizen Registry (NRC) in Assam have ordered the removal of “ineligible” names from the prepared registry, a step that comes on the heels of persistent state government stance that a re-verification of the 10-20 percent of all names listed are required for a “correct” record.
The NRC, published in August last year under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court, excluded 19 lakh applicants from around 3.3 million applicants.
In a letter dated October 13 to all developing countries, Hitesh Dev Sarma, state coordinator of the NRC, explained that “some names of ineligible persons”: persons declared as foreigners by the Foreign Courts (DF), persons Marked as Doubtful Voters (DV) by election officials or individuals whose cases are pending in the Foreign Courts (PFT) and their decanters – “found membership in the NRC.”
According to the laws governing the preparation of the NRC, people who fall into the above categories must be kept out of the NRC.
Sarma ordered the NRC district officers to “write orders for the removal of such names … after specifically determining the identity of the person.”
Explained: Who are the 19 lakh excluded from Assam NRC, and what’s next for them?
“Verification would mandatorily require the correct identity of the person so that no ambiguity arises in the future regarding the identification of the person,” Sarma wrote.
He added: “Therefore, you are requested to submit the list of those individuals who are not eligible for their names to be on the NRC along with the order of use justifying the reasons in each case for the action necessary to remove such names. “.
The NRC, published in August last year under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court, excluded 19 lakh of applicants from around 3.3 crore applicants.
Speaking to The Indian Express on Wednesday, Sarma said: “Yes, we have started the process to remove the names from the NRC of ‘declared foreigners’, ‘doubtful voters’, those who have pending cases in FT and their descendants. The list of names is still coming in from various districts and it would not be fair to comment on the total number of erroneous listings in the NRC at this time. Let’s get the full lists. “
One explanation that observers cite for such an illicit exclusion is that there is a lack of a synchronized, real-time database that reflects the status of an alleged “foreigner” for NRC officials. A centralized database that will streamline databases of people declared or suspected of being “foreigners” through parallel processes, such as the status of cases in the Foreign Courts and investigations by the Border branch of the state police, say the authorities.
The Assam government has reiterated that it is sticking to its demand for re-verification (20% in border districts and 10% elsewhere) of the names included in the final NRC, even as it continued its criticism of former NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela, who held him back. responsible for what it calls a wrong NRC with supposedly wrongful inclusion and exclusion.
The NRC process has hit a stone wall as of now.
“We want a correct NRC… The NRC that was just completed has flaws. We have asked the SC that the people of Assam never accept this NRC. It includes the names of many illegal aliens. The NRC should include only the names of genuine Indian citizens, ”said Assam’s chief Sarbananda Sonowal, speaking at a rally in Dibrugarh earlier this month, adding that the government’s appeal seeking re-verification is still pending. pending in SC.
Hajela, an Indian Administrative Service officer from the 1995 Assam-Meghalaya cadre group, who led the NRC’s readiness exercise as its state coordinator since 2013, was moved out of Assam last year by the Supreme Court. His transfer was preceded by what appeared to be a deterioration in his relations with the state government. Hajela was replaced by Sarma, an Assam Civil Service official who had served as Executive Director of the NRC from 2014 to February 2017.
The NRC process has hit a stone wall as of now as the rejection orders at 19 lakh of excluded people have not yet been issued, which will allow them to appeal against the exclusion in Foreign Courts. Officials have cited Covid as the reason for the delay. In addition, Sarma had previously told The Indian Express that he had found several discrepancies in some orders being issued and therefore ordered a new verification, which is ongoing.
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