India

Assam NRC list: Claims-and-objections filing process started, to continue till November 23

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Filing claims and objections to the National Register of Citizens’ (NRC) process started on Tuesday in Assam following uproar after the names of upto 40 lakh citizens had not been found on the list, PTI reported.

The process will continue till November 23 and forms will be available across 2,500 ‘seva kendras’, where people can file their appeal in their respective areas, an NRC official said.

People can file corrections to their names that are in the draft and also raise objections against suspected foreigners, the official said. Meanwhile, centers have been set up by political parties amid several organizations for assisting people.

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The names of applicants in the draft list had been included by the authorities on the basis of 15 documents. Recently, NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela informed the Supreme Court of India that five documents should not be considered for the final list. They include the NRC of 1951, pre-1971 voters’ lists, citizenship certificate, refugee registration certificate and ration cards.

The SC is directly monitoring the NRC draft update and will announce its verdict on October 23. The five documents will not be considered till then and the applicants will have to submit any of the remaining 10 documents mentioned in List-A.

The claims-and-objections process were earlier scheduled to be filed in August. However, the top court had criticized Hajela and the registrar general of India for announcing the dates without the standard-operating procedures being approved.

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In the north-eastern state of Assam, India has published a list which strips four million people of their citizenship. It says the process is to root out hordes of illegal Bangladeshi migrants.

The list, named as the National Register of Citizens (NRC), is a list of people who can prove they came to the state by 24 March 1971, when Bangladesh was created.

The list has sparked fears of targeted hunting towards ethnic minorities in Assam. However, officials have said that no one will face immediate deportation and that the option of an appeal will be available to all.

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