Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the state could legislatively deal with the wrongful inclusion of names in the National Register of Citizens (NRC), even after the final publication. "In a democracy, everyone has the right to ask questions. After the publication of NRC, if necessary in future, we will take whatever steps will be required," he told reporters after a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah, according to PTI.
The Supreme Court, on July 23, had extended the deadline for publication of final NRC to August 31, while rejecting the pleas seeking permission for 20 per cent sample re-verification. The Centre and the Assam government sought permission for sample re-verification to find out wrongful inclusions and exclusions of persons in the NRC. An additional exclusion list comprising the names of 1,02,462 persons to the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published in Assam in July. With the release of the additional exclusion list, the NRC has so far excluded over 41 lakh people.
The persons whose names appear in the additional exclusion list are the ones who were included in the draft NRC published on July 30 last year, but subsequently found to be ineligible.
According to a statement issued by the state coordinator of the NRC, the list has been published as per provisions of Clause 5 of the Schedule of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
The draft published on July 30, 2018 included the names of 2.9 crore people out of the total applications of 3.29 crore. Forty lakh people were left out in the draft.
According to officials, the additional exclusion list is available in designated NRC Seva Kendras (NSKs) and offices of deputy commissioners, sub-divisional officers and circle officers across Assam. The additional exclusion list can also be seen online at nrcassam.nic.in. Officials said people excluded from the new NRC list would receive letters sent to their residences that would list the reason for their exclusion.
The excluded persons have the opportunity to file claims in a hearing process. NRC officials said the date of hearings would be listed on the NRC website from June 29 onwards and the process would start from July 5.
-Inputs from PTI
