As many as 41-lakh citizens in the northeastern state of Assam have been awaiting the final National Register Of Citizens (NRC) list, which dropped today. In the final draft, a whopping 19 lakh people have been left out and 3.11 crore have been named eligible for inclusion. Check the inclusion and exclusion status at – www.nrcassam.nic.in.
The NRC list, which has been forged to weed out illegal immigrants, took months to prepare. Notably, a mention in the final list tags a citizen as a resident of Assam, while the ones without a mention will certainly come under the law’s scrutiny eyes.
The NRC list was initially created in 1951 and is being updated for the first time ever since. For the inundated, the final draft that was released last year excluded as many as 41-lakh people. However, the excluded people were given a chance to re-file their documents at NRC Seva Kendras, with enough documents to convince the authorities that they are an Indian citizen.
With that being said, it seems necessary to mull as what would happen to the ones whose name will not find a mention in the final list? The center, ensuring no one is unconstitutionally termed as a foreigner, had said that whosoever’s name doesn’t appear on the NRC list will not be termed as a foreigner until all legal options are drained.
Government Promises Help
The one, if excluded in today’s list, will have an option to appeal to the Foreigners Tribunal, within 120 days. Moreover, the authorities have no right to arrest a person, despite the fact that he is not on the list. The person, like every other Indian citizen, would enjoy all the rights until the foreigner’s tribunal declares him as a foreigner.
Moreover, to speed up the dispute hearing process, the Home Ministry has said it will set up at least 1,000 tribunals. 100 tribunals are already open and 200 more will be set up in the first week of September. If one loses the cases in the tribunal, they will have an option to approach the high court and then the Supreme Court.
To ensure no causalities hampers the state bordering Bangladesh, 21,500 troops of Central Paramilitary Forces have been deployed in the state of Assam. The authorities have also urged the citizens to stay calm and not entertain rumours.
