Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to issue a statement on the ongoing update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam on Sunday.
The second and final draft of the NRC will be published on July 30.
He is expected to ease the fears of citizen groups that have said the NRC is being used by the government for “religious polarisation.” There are worries that several residents will end up in detention centres after the final draft is published.
Mr. Singh will meet Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and senior officials on Sunday. The meeting was to have been held on Friday, but was put off because of the no-confidence motion in Parliament. A senior official of the Union Home Ministry said those who did not figure in the draft could raise objections. “Officials will look into them. It is not that lakhs of people will be detained after the draft is published.”
As directed by the Supreme Court, the Registrar-General of India will have to publish the final list on July 30 to segregate Indian citizens in Assam from those who entered the State illegally from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971. The first draft was published on December 31 last, with the names of 1.9 crore of the 3.29 crore applicants.