NRC Update Exercise Enters Crucial Phase

NRC Update Exercise Enters Crucial Phase

* People line up to receive claims & objections forms

* Provision of fine & imprisonment missing from objection forms

* SC to give its ruling on Centre’s SOP on August 28

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Aug 20: The most crucial phase of the NRC (National Register of Citizens) update got underway on Monday with the NRC sewa kendras across the State started distributing the claims and objections forms.

Even though the provision of fines and imprisonment was prominently mentioned in the sample forms issued by the NRC authorities earlier, the same was seen missing from forms distributed on Monday probably due to pending of the Supreme Court’s verdict on Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) prepared by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The SOP has been prepared to carry out the claims and objections exercise in a free, fair and transparent manner.

The NRC is being updated on the basis of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. So, one becomes liable to face punitive actions under the provision of the Citizenship Act, 1955 in case he fails to substantiate his objections against the eligibility of a person to be enrolled in the complete draft NRC. But such provision recently generated debate and controversy in the political and social circles. Even the State Council of Ministers had moved the Ministry of Home Affairs for withdrawing the provision of fines and imprisonment from the SOP.

Accordingly, the Home Ministry recently included the Assam Government’s suggestion in the SOP submitted to the Supreme Court. The SC will give its verdict on the Centre’s SOP after considering the views of all stakeholders of NRC on August 28.

It may be mentioned that one can file an objection against the inclusion of someone’s name in the complete draft NRC.

The SOP filed by MHA in the second week of August also said that the Centre proposes to include in the NRC Indian citizens who are not from Bangladesh and who moved to Assam from other parts of the country before or after March 24, 1971 if their citizenship is proved beyond reasonable doubt.

The NRC sewa kendras will accept the claims and objections forms from August 30 to September 28 only from those persons who applied to enroll their names in the updated NRC before August 31, 2015. Moreover, guardians of wards born after August 2015 need not apply for inclusion of the names of their children in the final NRC. Forms for correction names and other data published in the complete draft NRC will also be distributed shortly.

The complete draft NRC for Assam published on July 30 in pursuance of an SC-monitored exercise. Around 40.07 lakh out of total applicants (3,29,91,384 ) could not include their names in draft NRC. The draft is consisting of names of 2, 89, 83,677 applicants.

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