‘Social Audit’ of Rs 1,600 Cr Spent on NRC Process, The Election Commission yet to decide on voting rights for those excluded from the NRC

By Bhupen Goswami

Guwahati : Assam Public Works (APW) chief Aabhijeet Sharma, has expressed utter dissatisfaction on the Final NRC draft and has demanded a ‘social audit’ of the expense of Rs 1,600 crore spent during the entire NRC process. Sharma, the petitioner of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process, has also expressed his discontentment with the outcome of only 19 lakh people’s exclusion in the final NRC. Aabhijeet Sharma said, “In the last 40 years, a trade of illegal Bangladeshis was going on in the state of Assam. Crores of funds were collected in the name of these Bangladeshis.”He added, “All the efforts were made to get rid of these illegal Bangladeshis by means of agitation screaming out loud ‘Ah oi ah, Ulai ah, Khed oi khed, Bidexik Khed’. 855 people were martyred in such incidents. But the blood of these martyrs was sucked by these people and people elected them into power.

The ‘Dalals’ (brokers) of the Assam Accord have done nothing but developed their own economy.” He further said, “After 40 years, these people have given out the data of only 19 lakh illegal Bangladeshis. More than half of these people will be able to include their names in the Indian citizenship list through the Foreigners’ Tribunal. We repeatedly asked not to trust the State Coordinator completely from a long time.”Seeking apology to the couple behind the NRC, Pradip Bhuyan and Banti Bhuyan, Jayanta Baruah, media fraternity, Sharma said, “It is our fault that we filed the case to identify the illegal Bangladeshis and not to give them Indian citizenship. We had been demanding re-verification since last year. We even submitted five affidavits, but we were called ‘brokers’ of the government authorities.”Sharma also slammed the NRC authorities not trusting state government for the process and tendering the project for data entry to Wipro. However, The Election Commission is yet to decide on voting rights for those who have been excluded from the final NRC list but whose names figure in the voters’ list, reported the Under the rules, the EC can issue a notice asking why their names should not be struck off the electoral rolls. However, officials said that no decision has been taken yet and the EC would wait and watch as to how they are dealt with in regards to access to government services and benefits.