Correct.. not 'corrected' NRC! Assam releases final NRC list declaring 19 lakhs of 3.11 crores as 'foreigners'

Dispur, August 31: Releasing the final list of the National Register of Citizens on Saturday, the state to Assam has moved up excluding more than 19 lakh people of over 3.11 crore, further setting up detention centres for those declared ‘foreigners’ after exhausting all legal routes.

 

“Taking into account all the persons already included and after disposal of all claims and objections and proceedings, it has been found that a total of 3,11,21,004 persons found eligible for inclusion in final NRC, leaving out 19,06,657 persons, including those who did not submit their claims,” Prateek Hajela, State Coordinator of NRC, said.

 

 

However, the state CM Sarbananda Sonowal said that those excluded from the list will get an opportunity to file appeals and be heard in the Foreigner’s Tribunal. “Government of Assam will take care of the cause of the excluded people and due care will be taken so that nobody is subjected to unnecessary harassment”, he added.

 

This is after the draft NRC last year which left out as many as 40 lakh people. In the Draft NRC published on 30th July, 2018, 2,89,83,677 numbers of persons were found eligible for inclusion. Thereafter, Claims were received from 36,26,630 numbers of persons against exclusions.

The National Register of Citizens is meant to be a definitive list of Indian citizens in Assam. Through this list the government aims to identify undocumented immigrants, mostly believed to be from Bangladesh. Since the first census of independent India in 1951, the National Register of Citizens has come a long way.

 

From 1961 to 1966, Pakistani immigrants in large numbers were asked to leave Assam. The Indo-Pak and Bangladesh wars had caused a major influx of refugees in the state, followed by the 1979 Assam Movement, which called for driving them out. In 1985, the Assam Accord was signed, following several changes in migration and citizenship legislation.

 

The Supreme Court, in 2013, ordered for the NRC to be updated, and a series of drafts have since been published. The final draft will be published today.