Himanta Biswa Sarma says Assam Govt has Centre's backing for 'NRC re-verification'

Sarma has also said that Amit Shah has asked CM Sonowal to take legal advice ono the report submitted by the committee on implementation of Clause 6
File Image: Himanta Biswa Sarma

File Image: Himanta Biswa Sarma

New Delhi: Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday informed that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured the Centre's support to the Assam Government for re-verification of 20 percent of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the districts adjoining Bangladesh, and 10 percent applications in the other districts.

After the NRC final draft was published on August 31, leaving as many as 19 lakh people 'stateless' for the time being, there has been a growing demand for re-verification of the applications on the grounds that several foreigners' names have been included in the list.

Assam NGO, Assam Public Works (APW), the original petitioner of the NRC, has requested the Supreme Court to order a 100% re-verification of the entire NRC while maintaining that the names of "Bangladeshis" have been found their way into the final draft, while names of "indigenous" people have been excluded. The organization has also come down heavily on Prateek Hajela, the former coordinator of the NRC process, alleging his hand in a "corruption" of funds earmarked for the process.

Sarma has also said that Union home minister Amit Shah has asked Assam's Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to "take legal and constitutional advice" in regards to the report submitted by the high-level committee on the implementation of Clause 6 of the 'Assam Accord' which pertains to safeguards for the preservation and promotion of Assamese identity, public.

The Union Home Minister made this recommendation during a Sunday meeting that was attended by Shah, Sonowal, and the Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The meeting was held at the Home Minister's residence in the national capital New Delhi.

Yesterday's meeting was held amid rising tensions over the Assam government's delay in handing over the report of the Centre's commissioned committee to the Home Ministry.

Tensions resurfaced recently, after the Union Government reconfirmed that the report of the Clause 6 Committee on the 'Assam Accord' which is meant to safeguard Assam's interests.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha Minister of State, MHA, G Kishan Reddy said, "The high-Level Committee constituted by MHA on Clause 6 of Assam Accord submitted its report to Assam government. The recommendations under examination of state government."

The high-powered committee that the Centre constituted in July 2019 for the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord of 1985 handed its report to the state's Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal back in February of this year.

Since then, the Government has received flak for its apparent refusal to forward the recommendations to the Centre. Members of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU), one of the key constituents of the committee, have condemned the state government's alleged lack of initiative.

On August 11, the apex student body of the state made the high-level committee's confidential report on the implementation of the Clause 6.

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