Mischief exposed, Revenue department beats hasty retreat

Move to stonewall NRC!

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Nov 17: With the AASU crying foul and the media exposing yet another alleged attempt by mischievous quarters in Dispur to stonewall the ongoing NRC update exercise, the State government has now been sent scurrying into retreat. The Revenue department has quietly withdrawn a controversial notification that had instructed revenue officials to prioritize departmental work over the NRC exercise.

The notification, issued a few days back by Commissioner of Revenue and DM department PK Tiwari, had instructed revenue officials, including circle officers, to go on ‘Winter Tour’ from November 15 to review works of the revenue department in rural areas. The notification also asked them to give more priority to departmental works over NRC duty.

In addition, Tiwari instructed deputy commissioners on October 29 to order the treasury to stop block salaries of circle officers and senior revenue officers if they fail to complete their assignments within the stipulated time frame.

The All Assam Students Union (AASU) protested the notification, alleging it to be a move to stonewall the NRC update exercise. In a statement, AASU president Dipanko Kumar th and general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said, “Our charges against the Chief Minister are based on facts. At a time when a section of officials of the State Revenue department are engaged in NRC update work under way in the State, the department has issued a directive stating that officials not doing departmental duty will have their pay held up. Such a directive doesn’t augur well when the NRC update work is going on, and the Supreme Court deadline is to be met. How can a department issue such a directive without the nod of the Chief Minister?”

It may be mentioned that circle officers and senior revenue officers are playing an important role in the NRC update exercise since the beginning. Hence, the notification issued by the Revenue department created much confusion among its officials whether to give priority to departmental work or NRC duty.

The draft of the updated NRC is currently under preparation. The door-to-door verification work is expected to begin this week. As per the revised deadlines fixed by the Supreme Court, the draft NRC will have to be published by January 1 and fil NRC by March 1 next year,