Guwahati: Raising serious questions over the credibility of the updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the status of nearly 3.87 lakh applicants who failed to file claim after their names were not included in the final draft, remains unknown.
The state home department had directed all superintendents of police to trace the 3.87 lakh applicants’ whereabouts.
Though the Assam government decided to inquire about the socio-political status of these individuals, sources said that the inquiry remained on paper.
On verification of all applicants, the complete draft NRC was published on July 30, 2018. It included 2,89,83,677 eligible applicants. The names of 40,07,707 applicants were left out. While 36.2 lakh applicants filed claims for inclusion in the final NRC, 3.87 lakh failed to do so.
Meanwhile, NRC secretariat sources said quality control checks continue and hearings may still happen. Exclusion of names may also happen if anyone is found ineligible for inclusion in the citizenship document.
Sources asserted that the process was on schedule and the final NRC would be published on August 31, as fixed by the Supreme Court.
Officers engaged with updating the NRC are in touch with departments like the Border Police wing and the Foreigners’ Tribunals so that no one who is facing cases in any Tribunal is included, as per law.
The lack of a proper database of such individuals is a problem. Not all their whereabouts are known, and some may have shifted to other districts to submit
applications for inclusion in the NRC with forged identity documents, sources said.
