GUWAHATI, April 12 - Voicing its concern over the ongoing updating process of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the All Assam Students Union (AASU) today demanded formation of dedicated cells at every district under the deputy commissioners.
The AASU has submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal expressing its concern and dissatisfaction over the ongoing NRC preparation process.
The AASU, while expressing apprehension that illegal Bangladeshi migrants could enrol their names in the NRC in the absence of a foolproof verification process, said that the State Government had failed to exhibit the required alacrity on the matter.
�It was decided long back that top officials of the State Government would be sent to different districts for monitoring and verification works, but that has not materialised. Moreover, there have been widespread attempts by illegal migrants to enrol themselves as Indian citizens with the help of fake citizenship documents, but the government authorities are not treating the matter in the seriousness it deserves,� AASU president Dipanka Nath and general secretary Lurin Jyoti Gogoi said.
Calling for putting in place a foolproof mechanism to ensure that no illegal migrant can enrol their names in the NRC, the AASU said that as per statements of the then Union Home Minister of the Congress-led UPA and also the Union Minister of State for Home of the present BJP-led NDA Government, 1.2 crore and two crore Bangladeshis respectively were living in India, of which a sizeable segment was residing in Assam.
�These statements make it apparent that the NRC will have to delete the names of a large number of illegal Bangladeshis living in Assam,� Nath said.
The AASU also voiced concern over the slow pace of NRC update, and said that the State coordinator of NRC should have consulted the AASU before telling the Supreme Court that the draft NRC would be published by April 2018.
