Rajnath allays fear after over 40 lakh names excluded from NRC in Assam, Centre sends paramilitary troops to Assam including Meghalaya

New Delhi July 30: Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh on Monday said that everyone will have full opportunity to file claims and objections as per provision of law, and informed that the final National RC in Assam will be published only after disposing of claims and objections.

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published in Assam on Monday where over 40 lakh people in the state failed to make it to the draft NRC. Out of 3,29,91,384 applicants, 2,89,83,677 were found eligible, meaning the names of 40,00,707 applicants have not included in the list for their inability to establish their eligibility.

An official communiqué issued by PIB quoted the Union Home Minister who said, “I want to emphatically say that this is only a draft and not the final NRC. Everyone will have full opportunity to file claims/objections as per provision of law. Only after the disposal of claims and objections, the final NRC will be published. Some people are unnecessarily trying to create an atmosphere of fear. I want to assure all that there is no need for any apprehension or fear.”

Singh said, “some misinformation was being spread. The NRC process has been done impartially. Some people may not have been able to submit necessary documents. They will get full opportunity through claims and objections process. I want to clarify that even after the final NRC, every person will get an opportunity to approach the Foreigners Tribunal.”

“This means that even those whose names do not figure in the final NRC will also get an opportunity to approach the Tribunal. There is no question of any coercive action against anyone. The NRC process is being carried out with complete fairness and transparency. It has been monitored by the Supreme Court,” the Union Home Minister said.

Claims and objections from those left out of the citizen’s list will be taken up from August 30 to September 28, said officials. The register counts only those as Assam citizens who can prove that they were living in the state on or before March 21, 1971.

The NRC has been updated for the first time since 1951 to account for illegal migration from neighbouring Bangladesh.

The list has been updated to include descendants of those in the state in 1951 — when the first census took place — or those who were in Assam’s electoral rolls as of March 24, 1971.

The descendants of those who can prove citizenship till March 24, 1971, will also be considered Indian citizens. So will those who arrived between January 1, 1966 and March 25, 1971, and registered themselves with the Foreigners Registration Regional Officer.

The first draft of the NRC was published on January 1, with 1.9 crore names. Earlier this month, officials said there were anomalies in the documents of 1.5 lakh people, a third of them women.

The Central government has sent around 23,000 paramilitary troops to Assam and neighbouring states Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur, to prevent any flare-up in view of the publication of the draft NRC in Assam.