People queue to take a form through which they can request information as to why their names were not in the NRC list near an Seva Kendra in Chhaygaon area of Kamrup district. (Express File Photo)Having failed to have completed the task of enumeration for NRC in Assam, the government has given the process an extension of one month. The final list of National Register of Citizens in Assam was to be published on July 1. It will now be published on July 31. In a notification, the Registrar General of India said the decision has been taken as the exercise to enumerate citizens in the NRC, a list of Assam’s residents, could not be completed within the specified date of June 30.
“And whereas, the said enumeration in the state of Assam could not be completed within the period specified…the central government has considered it necessary and expedient in the public interest to complete the said enumeration in connection with the updation of the National Register of Citizens, 1951 by 31st day of July, 2019,” the notification issued by Registrar General of Citizen Registration Vivek Joshi said.
On December 6, 2013, the government had issued the first notification setting a deadline of three years for completion of the entire NRC process. However, since then, six extensions were given by the government in regular intervals as the exercise has not yet been completed.
“Now, therefore, pursuant to the provisions of sub-rule (3) of rule 4A of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003 and in supersession of the notification number S.O. 6329(E), dated December 26, 2018, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession, the Registrar General of Citizen Registration, hereby, notifies that the enumeration in connection with the updation of the National Register of Citizens, 1951, in respect of the state of Assam shall be completed within the period ending on the 31st day of July, 2019,” the notification said.
When the draft NRC was published on July 30 last year, there was a huge controversy over the exclusion of 40.7 lakh people from it. The draft NRC included the names of 2.9 crore people out of the total 3.29 crore applications. The names of over a lakh more people were also excluded in a list published last month.
The Supreme Court-monitored NRC exercise, aimed at identifying illegal immigrants in the state that borders Bangladesh, was carried out only in Assam, which faced influx of people from Bangladesh since the early 20th century.
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Meanwhile, Joshi also announced that a pre-test of the Census 2021 will be carried out across the country from August 12 to September 30 this year. The reference date for the census is October 1, 2020 for Jammu and Kashmir and snow bound areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, while for the rest of country is March 1, 2021.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 17A of the Census Act, 1948 (37 of 1948), the central government hereby extends the provisions of the said Act, for conduct of a pre-test of the Census of India, 2021. The pre-test shall be conducted from August 12, 2019 to September 30, 2019 in all the states and the Union Territories,” Joshi said in a notification.
For the first time in the 140-year history of the census in India, data is proposed to be collected through a mobile app and enumerators would be encouraged to use their own phone. The census 2021 will be the world’s largest enumeration exercise, an official said.
