National Register of Citizens for Assam

This article is about the system implemented in Assam. For the system intended for all of India, see National Register of Citizens.

The National Register of Citizens for Assam is a registry (NRC) meant to be maintained by the Government of India for the state of Assam. It is expected to contain the names and certain relevant information for the identification of genuine Indian citizens in the state. The register for Assam was first prepared after the 1951 Census of India. Since then it was not updated until the major "updation exercise" conducted during 2013–2019, which caused numerous difficulties. In 2019, the government also declared its intention of creating such a registry for the whole of India, leading to major protests all over the country.[1][2][3]

After the independence of India, the Indian parliament passed the Immigration (Expulsion from Assam) Act of 1950 due to the concern that Assam was getting indundated with migrants from East Bengal, which had then become part of Pakistan.[a] The first National Register of Citizens was prepared in 1951 in order to implement the Act.[4][5] However, nothing was accomplished because The Foreigners Act of 1946 did not treat Pakistanis as "foreigners" and they could come and go as they pleased.[6]

The process of updating Assam's part of NRC started in 2013 when the Supreme Court of India passed an order for it to be updated. Since then, the Supreme Court (bench of Ranjan Gogoi and Rohinton Fali Nariman) monitored it continuously. The entire process was conducted by Prateek Hajela,[7] an IAS, who has been designated as the State Coordinator of National Registration, Assam.

The final updated NRC for Assam, published 31 August 2019, contained 31 million names out of 33 million population.[8] It left out about 1.9 million applicants, who seem to be divided roughly equally between Bengali Hindus, Bengali Muslims and other Hindus from various parts of India.[9][10][11][b]

In December 2022, audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India revealed several irregularities in the National Register of Citizens in Assam, such as, exclusion of several indigenous people of Assam, irregularities in utilization of funds in the process and choosing software for the task. The project cost increased from Rs 288.18 crore in 2014 to Rs 1,602.66 crore by March 2022.[14]

The Government of Bangladesh has indicated that Bangladesh is prepared to take back any of its citizens residing in India if evidence is offered.[15]

  1. ^ Seetharaman, G. (14 June 2015). "National Register of Citizens in Assam: Issue of illegal foreigners continues to be a major political one". The Economic Times.
  2. ^ "Assam: Overhaul of National Register of Citizens sparks controversy". 29 June 2015.
  3. ^ Seetharaman, G. (14 June 2015). "National Register of Citizens in Assam: Issue of illegal foreigners continues to be a major political one - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  4. ^ Review: Assam: The Accord, The Discord by Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, Hindustan Times, 13 December 2019.
  5. ^ Gupta, Beyond the poll rhetoric (2019), pp. 4–5.
  6. ^ Gupta, Beyond the poll rhetoric (2019), p. 5.
  7. ^ Karmakar, Rahul (21 July 2018). "Who is Prateek Hajela, who's making the headlines in Assam?". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  8. ^ NRC final list: How and where to check your name on Assam's National Register of Citizens, India Today, 31 August 2019.
  9. ^ ‘Five lakh Bengali Hindu NRC rejects will get citizenship, The Times of India, 11 December 2019.
  10. ^ Thomas, K. V. (6 December 2019), The Politics of NRC and its Pan-Indian Dimensions (PDF), Centre for Public Policy Research, pp. 6–7
  11. ^ Sanjoy Hazarika, Assam's Tangled Web of Citizenship and the Importance of a Consensus, The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, 18 October 2019.
  12. ^ Zamser Ali, Bangladeshi bogeyman myth EXPOSED in Assam!, Citizens for Justice and Peace, 17 September 2019.
  13. ^ Swing between hope & despair, The Telegraph, 13 December 2019.
  14. ^ Scroll Staff (25 December 2022). "CAG flags irregularities in Assam's NRC exercise". Scroll.in. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  15. ^ Will take back Bangladeshi citizens staying in India illegally if evidence provided: Dhaka official, India Today, 17 December 2019.


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