The Assam government has registered cases against 137 persons on charge of submitting forged/fake documents to prove their citizenship claims during the ongoing updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state.
NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela told media here that 97 per cent of the field verification of the family legacy of individuals, who have applied for inclusion of their names in the NRC, had been done.
The department received about 6.63 crore documents from the applicants for inclusion of their names in the NRC, which is being updated under the guidance of the Supreme Court to detect illegal foreigners who entered Assam after 1971 and are living in the state.
The updating of the NRC assumes significance as Assam witnessed a political movement between 1979 and 1985 to demand the detection and deportation of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
The NRC updating will also give respite to over one lakh 'D' voters in Assam, which signified their doubtful citizenship credentials and hence are not allowed to cast their votes in elections in Assam.
While there are 1,36,448 'D' voters in Assam at present, the foreigners tribunals have so far declared 11,064 individuals as foreigners.
About the Centre's notification last year to allow the minority communities in Bangladesh, who fled due to religious persecution and are now living in India, Hajela clarified that they have not received any instruction from the Supreme Court to include the names of Hindu Bangladeshis in the NRC.
"The NRC updating process is being monitored by the Supreme Court and we are going by the apex court's instructions. So far, we have not received any instructions from the apex court to include the names of Hindu Bangladeshis in the NRC. The SC order in this regard only said that the Hindu Bangladeshis who have entered India due to religious persecution should not be deported," Hajela said.
Asked when the process of NRC updating will be completed, he said it is difficult to give a definite date, adding that the process will be completed as per the guidelines and date specified by the apex court.
--IANS
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