New Delhi:
The Assam government on Saturday said those left out of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) have option to appeal in the Foreigners Tribunal (FT). The government had earlier also said those left out of the NRC will not be detained under any circumstances until the Foreigners Tribunals declare them as foreigners. “The government will provide legal support to the Indian citizens not finding place in the NRC list,” news agency PTI quoted Assam Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary.
“One thing is sure that many genuine Indians were left out of the NRC. However, they don’t need to panic and worry. They can appeal in the FTs,” Patowary said.
“We have increased the number of FTs to 300 from 100 earlier. The additional FTs will start functioning from Monday. So, people can result approach the FTs,” said Patowary, who is also the spokesperson of the Assam government.
Earlier, security was beefed up in Mizoram and police stations and border outposts along the 123 km Mizoram-Assam border were alerted.
The final status of both inclusion and exclusion can be viewed online in the NRC website, www.nrcassam.nic.in. The final list was published at 10 am and the hard copies of the Supplementary List of Inclusions are available for public viewing at the NRC Seva Kendras (NSK), offices of the deputy commissioner and offices of the Circle Officer during office hours, the statement said.
The names of 1.9 crore people were published as Part Draft NRC on the midnight of December 31, 2017.
In July 30 last year, the Complete Draft was released excluding over 40 lakh of 2.9 crore people. An additional 1,02,462 people were excluded in June this year, taking the total ineligible persons to 41,10,169.
The process of NRC updation started in the state following an order of the Supreme Court in 2013. Since then, the Apex Court has been closely monitoring the entire process.
Assam, which has faced an influx of people from Bangladesh since the early 20th century, is the only state having an NRC which was first prepared in 1951. It is for the first time since then that the NRC was updated.
