Assam NRC Final List Published, Over 19 Lakh People Excluded [Read Press Release]

The final list of National Register of Citizens (NRC) has been published as per the deadline set by the Supreme Court.

The list is available in the website nrcassam.nic.in and through NRC seva kendras.

As per a press release by the NRC Co-ordinator, the final list has excluded over 19 lakh persons (19,06,657) out of 3.3 crore applicants. The draft list published last year had nearly 40 lakh exclusions.

The appeals against exclusions will be heard by the Foreigners Tribunals. 

The original deadline set by the Supreme Court for publication of final NRC list was July 31, which was extended to August 31 as per order issued on July 23 by a bench of CJI Ranjan Gogoi and Justice R F Nariman.

The Centre had made a request for allowing re-verification of 20% of the inclusions stating that many doubtful cases in districts bordering Bangladesh happened to be in the final list. But this was turned down by the Court based on the inputs from the State NRC Co-ordinator Prateek Hajela.

The NRC process has its origins in the 1985 Assam Accord entered into between the Rajeev Gandhi-led Union Government with the leaders of Assam, following massive agitation by Assam Students Union for six years demanding deportation of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

March 25, 1971 - the day when Bangladesh war started - was set as the cut-off date for determining citizenship. All those who came to Assam after that date were to be regarded as an illegal migrant.

The Accord was given statutory recognition by Section 6A inserted into the Citizenship Act 1955 through amendment carried out in 1985.

To be included in the NRC, one has to establish that he had been residing in Assam even before the cut off date, or has to trace his legacy to ancestors who had been staying in Assam before such date. This has to be established through 'legacy documents', i.e a list of government approved documents.

The process had been lying dormant for nearly three decades. The necessary rules for updation of Assam NRC were framed only in 2003. 

It gathered steam after 2014, when a bench of Justice Gogoi (as he was then) and Nariman ordered the expedition of process in a PIL filed by NGO Assam Public Works in 2009.

Since then, the process was being monitored by this bench of the Supreme Court.

The first draft list was published in December 2017, which was followed by a second draft published on July 31, 2018.

The gargantuan task has cost nearly Rs 1,220 crores and involved about 52,000 officials.

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