NRC update enters crucial phase

Form distribution begins, Dispur set to launch second round of awareness campaign

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, June 4: Seventy five lakh households in Assam have collected their legacy data code till date, as the exercise of updating the tiol Register of Citizens (NRC) enters a crucial stage with the commencement of distribution of forms.

NRC state coorditor Prateek Hazela said distribution of forms has already started in Dhubri, Barpeta, Darrang, gaon and lbari.

The distribution of forms has begun on a pilot-basis at Chandrapur in Kamrup (Metro) district. In that area, the NRC sewa kendra has also received forty filled-up forms submitted by citizens.

The forms - printed in three languages (Assamese, English and Bengali) - will have to be submitted at the NRC sewa kendras locally along with self-attested linkage certificates. The government has set up 2,500 sewa kendras in the State, Hazela said.

There is also a provision for online submission of completed NRC forms.

The government is in the process of launching the second phase of the awareness campaign to assist the people in filling up NRC forms correctly. Video tutorials with directions on how to fill up the forms have been uploaded in the NRC website.

Hazela said verification of the forms will start after July 31, the last date of submission of forms.

While the State government has sought Rs 498 crore for the colossal exercise, the Centre has sanctioned Rs 288 crore so far, of which Rs 140 crore has been already released.

Hazela also said the State government is taking up with the Registrar General of India the issue of inclusion of additiol supporting documents for people of the tea tribe community.

A per the modalities, twelve supporting documents were prescribed in case any citizen is uble to find his legacy data code. These documents included pre-1971 LIC certificates, bank accounts, school certificates etc.

However, there has been a demand from the tea community to include two other documents - pre-1971 PF statement and the birth certificate given by the garden magement. "Many people from the tea community have stated that they neither could find their legacy data codes nor have any of the supporting documents. They have asked us to include these two documents in the list of supporting documents. We are taking it up with the RGI," Hazela added.