Photo Courtesy: nenews
Guwahati: Nineteen lakh people remain in legal limbo. The Centre told the Supreme Court that rejection slips for those left out of Assam's National Register of Citizens have not gone out. The final register still lacks a formal notification. Data remains stuck in limbo.
The Registrar General of India explained the holdup in a recent affidavit. The state NRC coordinator is still building a security system to protect the database. This work must finish before the government can transfer the data to the Registrar General. Without that transfer, the final register cannot get the official stamp of approval. The wait continues.
Published in August 2019, the final NRC lists 3.11 crore people. Another 19.07 lakh people failed to make the cut. The Supreme Court previously ordered the state coordinator to create a system for issuing rejection slips. These slips allow excluded individuals to fight their cases before Foreigners Tribunals. The coordinator told the RGI in October 2020 that slips could only move forward after a formal notification of the final register. "The issuance of rejection slips to around 19 lakh people excluded from Assam‘s National Register of Citizens (NRC) has not commenced," the Centre stated.
The Assam government asked for more time to prepare its response. The Supreme Court pushed the hearing to November 6. Multiple groups including the Assam State Jamiat Ulama, the All Assam Minority Students Union, and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind filed petitions. They want the slips issued and permanent cards provided to those who made the list.
Comments