50,000 foreigners may not make it to NRC, says Hajela

GUWAHATI: Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) coordinator Prateek Hajela on Monday said the names of nearly 50,000 foreigners and their family members will not figure in the final draft of the NRC to be published on June 30.
This is in sharp contrast to the claims made by various minority organizations that lakhs of people, including declared foreigners, their family members and 'doubtful' voters (D-voters) will be left out of the final NRC which is being updated to find out the exact number of illegal migrants from Bangladesh settled in the state after the cutoff date of March 24, 1971.

"We usually desist from giving out the numbers on how many people will be included or will be left out of the NRC before anything is finalized. But a situation of confusion and misinformation has been created. This is going to complicate things and create a lot of misunderstanding among people. That is why I am compelled to quote the figure that nearly 50,000 people will not be included in the NRC," added Hajela.

The foreigners' tribunals set up across the state have declared that there are an estimated 90,000 foreigners in the state. "Out of them, 15,000 are 'registered foreigners' who had come to the state primarily from Bangladesh between 1966 and before March 25, 1971. They will make it to the NRC," said Hajela.

Of the remaining 75,000, added Hajela, only 4,288 foreigners have been identified and the whereabouts of the rest is not in records and some have also died. "The 4,288 foreigners and their brothers, sisters and other family members will not be included in the NRC. We have come to an estimate that the figure hovers around 50,000. Unfortunately, an impression is being created that lakhs of people will be left out," he said.

The first draft of NRC was released on December 31 last year, which included the names of 1.90 crore people out of 3.29 crore applicants.

A notification issued by the NRC office here on May 2 instructed SP (Border) to refer brothers, sisters and other family members of 'declared foreigners' to the foreigners' tribunals and not include their names in the NRC. Azizur Rahman, the chief coordinator of the committee of 23 minority organisations, said, "There are about 1.42 lakh D-voters whose cases are pending with the foreigners' tribunals. Then, family members of declared foreigners are being barred from enrolling their names in NRC. So, several lakhs of people will not make it to the final NRC."

Earler, 23 minority organizations, including All Assam Minority Students' Union and Assam State Jamiat Ulama, have expressed concern that names of lakhs of people will not be included in the NRC because several cases of 'D' voters are still pending in foreigner's tribunals. 'D' voters can apply for NRC only after their names are cleared by the tribunals.

The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, state that the names of persons who came to the state after 1966 and before March 25, 1971 and registered themselves with the Foreigner Registration Regional Officer and who have not been declared as illegal migrants or foreigners by the competent authority shall be eligible to be included in the consolidated list.