1.9 cr names in first draft of Assam NRC 

1.9 cr names in first draft of Assam NRC 

Context

Nearly 32 years after the Assam Accord was signed, the first draft of an updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) for the State listed 1.90 Crore names out of the 3.29 crore applicants. The updated NRC was published at midnight on December 31

Facts

1. Assam is the only State in the country that prepared an NRC in 1951 following the census of that year
2. It has become the first State to get the first draft of its own updated NRC
3. The NRC, 1951, is updated in Assam with the names of applicants whose names appear in NRC, 1951, or any electoral rolls of the State up to midnight of March 24, 1971, and their descendants and all Indian citizens, including their children and descendants who have moved to Assam post March 24, 1971

Under process

Verification of the remaining applicants is under way and the subsequent draft would be published after the names were verified

• No need to panic: State NRC Coordinator Pratik Hajela stated that verification was a tedious process and there was a possibility that some names within a single family might not be included in the first draft. He appealed to all people not to panic as the verification process was still on

Timeframe

• Set by SC: The time frame for the publication of the NRC draft was set by the Supreme Court, which has been monitoring the entire process. The court had turned down a plea by the Centre last month for an extension of the time frame till July 31, 2018, and directed that the first draft be published at midnight of December 31
• The time frame for publication of the second draft would be decided in accordance with the Supreme Court, adding that the entire process would be completed in 2018
• The Supreme Court, which is monitoring the entire process, had ordered that the first draft of the NRC be published by December 31 after completing the scrutiny of over two crore claims along with that of around 38 lakh people whose documents were suspect

Backdrop

• Start of application process: The application process started in May, 2015 and a total of 6.5 crore documents were received from 68.27 lakh families across Assam
• The ground work for this mammoth exercise began in December 2013 and 40 hearings have taken place in the Supreme Court over the last three years