Published on June 26, 2019
By Bhupen Goswami
Guwahati : It is for the first time since 1951 that the Assam citizens’ list is being updated to account for illegal migration into Assam from Bangladesh.In the Additional Draft Additional Draft Exclusion List of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), names of over 1 lakh people have been excluded. The Additional Draft has been published today.  In an official statement released by the NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajella, it is stated: “As per provisions contained in Clause 5 of the Schedule of The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, an Additional Draft Exclusion List consisting of 1,02,462 persons has been published today.”
The statement further added that the persons whose names appear in the Additional Draft Exclusions List are those persons whose names were included in the Draft NRC published on 30th July 2018, but have been subsequently found ineligible due to the following reasons: Persons who were found to be DF (Declared Foreigner) or DV (Doubtful Voter) or PFT (persons with cases Pending at Foreigners Tribunals) or their descendants, as applicable, discovered after publication of Draft NRC, Persons who were found to be ineligible while appearing as witness in hearings held for disposal of Claims & Objections, and Persons who were found to be ineligible during the process of verification carried out by the Local Registrars of Citizens Registration (LRCRs) under provisions of Clause 4(3), after publication of Complete Draft NRC on 30th July, 2018. The Additional Draft Exclusion List will not contain the results of claimants and objectees appearing for hearings held for disposal of Claims and Objections during the period 15th February 2019 to 26th June, 2019.
The results of those hearings will be published only in the Final NRC to be published on 31st July 2019. Starting at 10 AM on 26th June, 2019, the hard copies of the Additional Draft Exclusion List will be available for public view at NRC Seva Kendras (NSK), offices of the Deputy Commissioner/ SDO (Civil)/ Circle Officer during office hours. Particulars of the Additional Draft Exclusion List can also be viewed online in the NRC website www.nrcassam.nic.in starting at 10 AM on 26th June, 2019. Those persons who will be excluded will also be informed individually through Letters of Information (LOI) to be delivered at their residential addresses along with the reason of exclusion. Such persons will have the opportunity to file their Claims which will be disposed through a hearing by a Disposing Officer. The submission of Claim and it’s disposal by the Disposing Officer through a hearing will happen together. LOI will mention the details of the venue of claim submission cum hearing. The hearings will start from 5th July 2019 onwards.
The date of hearings will also be available online in the NRC website www.nrcassam.nic.in from 29th June 2019 onwards. All such Claims will be disposed thereafter and results of such persons will be declared in the Final NRC on 31st July 2019.Meanwhile, the names of other citizens will remain the same. However, the list will not mention the results of the disposal of claims and objections. The ineligible people will be highlighted as “excluded in additional list” while the names of the others will remain the same in the online list. The NRC daft list is linked to Assam’s elaborate process of weeding out foreign nationals which started in 2014. “Each person in the additional list will have to be informed through a letter of information about the reasons for his/her inclusion in the additional list, details of the disposing officer before whom the claim has to be filed and hearing held, including the date, time and venue,” the letter said.
The NRC draft list released in July last year had the names of 40 lakh people missing. Now, the process of claims and objections is being executed by the authorities. Earlier, the Home Ministry had said it has laid down the modalities for foreigners’ tribunals in Assam for deciding appeals made by people not satisfied with the outcome of claims and objections filed against the NRC. Further, the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, in his address to the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament, said efforts will be made to amend the Citizenship Act while protecting linguistic, cultural and social identities. “My government has decided to implement the process of National Register of Citizens on priority basis in areas affected by infiltration,” he said in his customary address after the formation of the 17th Lok Sabha. The President, however, did not specify in which areas the NRC will be implemented.