FIR against Prateek Hajela Assam Prateek Hajela NRC
Prateek Hajela (File image)

Guwahati: The Assam government has granted a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to former NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela, but he will still face criminal charges in connection with the NRC updation process.

Hajela, an Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS officer, had applied for VRS after completing his three-year inter-cadre deputation in Madhya Pradesh. The Assam government approved his request on July 31, 2023, with effect from August 1, 2023.

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However, Hajela will still face two criminal cases that have been filed against him in connection with the NRC updation process.

One case was filed by his successor in the NRC office, Hitesh Devsarma, who accused Hajela of helping illegal Bangladeshi migrants to get their names included in the NRC draft.

There is confusion if all the FIRs against Hajela were duly registered. However, a public revelation by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is understood to have instructed the concerned department to register the cases against Hajela.

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Sarma, who also holds charge of the home department, on 12 April stated that if Hajela wanted to take an early retirement he could do it. However, Sarma asserted that Hajela has to appear before the investigation team as and when summoned.

A recent FIR against Hajela highlighted the exploitation of 8000 contractual workers too, who were even denied legalized monthly salaries during the NRC updation process.

Hajela was appointed to look after the massive exercise under direct monitoring of the Supreme Court of India engaging 55,000 government employees and also contractual data entry operators (DEOs).

Now strong demands have been raised for the DEOs so that they can get their outstanding dues (cumulative amount of which will be over Rs 1 billion) from the concerned agencies.

The NRC authority spent a sum of Rs 16 billion crore in the five-year-long (2014 to 2019) exercise where the system integrator (Wipro Limited) had the responsibility to supply DEOs, but it engaged one sub-contractor (Integrated System and Services, owned by Utpal Hazarika), which paid a DEO only Rs 5,500 (to 9,100) only.

Shockingly, the amount is below the country’s basic minimum wage. Some DEOs approached the State labor commissioner and also hit the street demanding their dues but they continue to be deprived of their dues.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has also criticized Hajela for financial irregularities during the NRC updation process.

The CAG report found that Hajela had approved payments to contractors without following proper procedures and that he had failed to ensure that the contractors were paying their employees a fair wage.

Months back, social media users named and shamed three Guwahati-based television scribes as beneficiaries of the NRC scam along with the bureaucrats.

They praised Hajela as an outstanding officer and pronounced the NRC draft as the final one, even though it’s yet to be endorsed by the Registrar General of India.

Nonetheless, the people believe that the DEOs must be compensated under the laws irrespective of the fate of NRC. Moreover, as the exercise was monitored by the apex court, it now becomes necessary for the sake of SC’s credibility too.

The approval of Hajela’s VRS application has been met with mixed reactions. Some people have expressed concern that Hajela will not be held accountable for his alleged wrongdoings.