Investigation of complaints of people left out in the National Register of Citizens (NRC)
Recently, Assam has constituted a cabinet sub-committee to inquire into the grievances of people who were left out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
This sub-committee will examine the problems of 19 lakh people who were not included in the supplementary list of NRC published in August 2019.
About NRC:
- It is a kind of register, which contains the details of all Indian citizens.
- At present, Assam is the only state which has NRC. It was first prepared in the year 1951, and was last updated in the year 2019.
- The NRC was updated in accordance with the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
The following provision was made in the Assam Accord (1985):
- If a resident of Assam can prove his presence in Assam, or the presence of his ancestor, before March 25, 1971, he shall be deemed to be an Indian citizen.
- Thus, the process of updating the NRC started after the Supreme Court order in the year 2013.
- If a person’s name is not included in the NRC, he is not immediately declared a foreign national. Such persons have the option of presenting their case before “Foreigners’ Tribunals”.
- If a person loses his case in the tribunal, he can appeal to the High Court and the Supreme Court.
Source – The Hindu
