By Bhupen Goswami

Guwahati : The Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said that the State government has requested the Centre to reject the recently published National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the current form.He, however, said that there has been no formal or written communication on the matter. “The State government has not accepted the NRC and wants it to be rejected,” Sarma said at a press conference today.Sarma said that the Government is yet to “accept” the NRC as it includes the names of many illegals, while, at the same time, many indigen.Biswa Sarma said that the current Assam NRC is “confusing”, and thus, there will be a new NRC after the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to grant citizenship to “persecuted minorities” from neighboring countries. “There should be one cutoff in the entire country, whether it be 1951, or 1971 — that is something that we have been requesting the Union Home Minister”, Biswa Sarma said.Biswa Sarma further added that the Assam State Government has informed the Union Government to set the same cut off date for the entire country, including Assam. Biswa Sarma also said that the Assam Government has appealed to the Centre to reject the NRC.

“The Government will decide whether the Government or the Supreme Court will reject the NRC, since it was a Central government initiative”, Biswa Sarma. Meanwhile, on the same day, Shah has once again reiterated his intention to implement an NRC on a nation-wide basis.Addressing the Speaker, the home minister adds that the government will provide asylum to all people, irrespective of religion. “The exercise of NRC will be carried out in the entire country,” he said. In regards to the people left out of the final NRC draft on August 31, Shah said, “People whose names are not in the NRC have the right to approach the tribunal…Assam govt is also ready to foot the expenses of people who cant afford a legal counsel.” Moreover, the Union Home Minister has stated that the entire country will have the same cutoff date to determine who is a legal Indian, and who is not.“There are many shortcomings in the NRC. Some of the genuine citizens were excluded while there were cases of inclusion of ineligible people,” he said. Welcoming the statement of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Rajya Sabha that the NRC would be carried out in the entire country, Sarma also said that the State government is for one cut-off year for the country.