INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The controversy surrounding the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam refuses to die down
Recently, a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India highlighting massive financial anomalies and bureaucratic lapses
was tabled in the state assembly
But no action has been taken on the complaint so far.The NRC was first prepared for Assam in 1951 based on the Census of that year under the
directive of the Ministry of Home Affairs
The objective was to weed out illegal immigrants who had entered Assam from erstwhile East Bengal (now Bangladesh)
During a review of the implementation of the Assam Accord in May 2005, the then Congress government in the state had agreed for updating the
The historic Accord signed in 1985 marked the culmination of the six-year Assam Agitation that demanded detection and deportation of illegal
immigrants irrespective of their religious affiliations.Meanwhile, the Supreme Court had also ordered updating the NRC on a petition filed
Civil society organisations and indigenous groups welcomed the decision as the NRC was perceived to be critical to identifying millions of
illegal settlers in Assam
But what was supposed to be a safeguard for greater Assamese identity and culture against a demographic onslaught of illegal immigration
turned out to be a dud.Needless to say, the ruling BJP had taken the credit after the NRC exercise was completed
And now, it has stopped short of abandoning the matter
The final list released on August 31, 2019, had excluded over 19 lakh applicants out of a total 3.3 crore whose fate will be determined by
There is speculation that many of those excluded are genuine citizens, whose claims may be stuck due to improper documentation or some
technical errors.Even the Congress staked claim ahead of the release of the final list
As a result, it has become defective
The baby is defective because you did not provide sufficient food or sufficient nourishment
August 2018.More than three years since the NRC exercise was completed, but the Registrar General of India (RGI) is yet to notify the list
Amid this delay came the CAG report which is, in fact, a stinging comment on the manner in which then-NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela handled
