Dispur and AASU reach consensus on NRC review

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The representatives of the State Government and the AASU (All Assam Students' Union) have reached a consensus on the NRC (National Register of Citizens) review.

The eight-member sub-committee led by Assam Accord Implementation Minister Atul Bora has three representatives from the State Government and five from the AASU.

The sub-committee will hold clause-wise meetings, and today it exclusively discussed Clause V of the Assam Accord.

Talking to the media after the meeting, Atul Bora said, "The leaders of the AASU had talks with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on September 7, 2021. Based on the decision taken at that meeting, we constituted the sub-committee on Assam Accord Implementation. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the State Government is committed to implementing the accord clause wise.

"At today's meeting, the AASU favoured re-verification of the NRC as that has errors. The State Government has no objection to this as the NRC is erroneous. The State Government is not satisfied with the NRC. It should not have the names of foreigners. The AASU also stressed clause-wise implementation of the Assam Accord in stipulated times.

"The State government can implement various clauses of the Assam Accord that fall under its jurisdiction. However, some clauses need the Centre's help as MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) is the nodal ministry for Assam Accord implementation. To implement such clauses, the State Government and the AASU need to hold talks jointly with the Centre."

Ministers Pijush Hazarika and Ajanta Neog accompanied Atul Bora. The AASU side had its president Dipanka Kumar Nath, general secretary Sankor Jyoti Baruah, chief adviser Samujjal Bhattacharjya and advisers Prakash Chandra Das and Uddipto Jyoti Gogoi.

The AASU leadership said after the second meeting of the sub-committee that Clause V of the Assam Accord entails detection and deportation of foreigners and deletion of their names from the voter list. They further said that the foreigner tribunals (FTs) working in the state needed strengthening. "The 200 Additional FTs do not perform smoothly, nor do they have proper infrastructure. The government should ensure infrastructure for them. Every district in the state should have a separate SP exclusively to monitor the detection and deportation of foreigners. It is crucial as the workload on the state police officers is staggering.

"India and Bangladesh should sign a bilateral treaty for the deportation of declared foreigners to the neighbouring country," the AASU leadership said.

On the NRC, they said that they moved the Supreme Court seeking re-verification of the NRC. The AASU leadership said that they would hold more talks on Clause 5 of the Accord.

Also Read: Financial anomalies of Rs 360 cr during NRC update process: Assam Public Works

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