As the first draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) is about to come out on the midnight of December 31, a senior government official has said that if someone’s name was not on the list, it did not imply that he or she was not an Indian citizen.
The official said the initial list would contain the names of nearly two crore of the 3.28 crore who applied for inclusion in the registry from 2013, The Hindu reported.
He said the list would be put up at 2,500-3,000 government Seva Kendras and on the website of the Registrar-General. In addition to this, those who have registered their mobile numbers with the State Government would get messages on December 31.
‘There is a major concern among the people of Assam that the names that don’t feature on the draft , which is only the first in a series, will cease to be Assamese citizens. This is not true; it only means that their verification is pending. There is another stage of claims and objections. If anyone has been excluded, their names will be included. That is why only part of the draft is being published as enumerators were still verifying lakhs of documents submitted to support the claims,’ the official said.
On Supreme Court directions, the Registrar-General of India will publish the list on December 31 to distinguish Indian citizens living in Assam from those who illegally entered the State from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971.