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Govt move to make new FTs operational from October

By R Dutta Choudhury

GUWAHATI, Aug 22 - Assam Government is planning to make the new Foreigners' Tribunals operational from October 1 and the appointments of the members and other staff are scheduled to start within the next few days. At present, 100 Tribunals set up under the provisions of the Foreigners� Act are functioning in the State and the Government is planning to set up 200 new Tribunals in the first phase.

Official sources told The Assam Tribune that more than 2000 persons applied for the posts of members of the Tribunals and the Gauhati High Court selected 221 of them. Though 200 new Tribunals would be set up, 221 persons were selected as posts of members in some existing Tribunals were also vacant. The selection process of 1800 staff for the new Tribunals has also been completed and they would also be appointed shortly.

Sources revealed that the criteria for selection as members of the Tribunals were seven years of experience of practicing as a lawyer, while, retired judicial service officers and civil service officers with LLB degree are also eligible for applying for the posts. The newly recruited members would be given training for a brief period before they start functioning as members of the Tribunals. "Such training is considered necessary as none of them have worked in the Foreigners' Tribunals," sources added.

The Government will have to create infrastructure for the new Tribunals and at this moment, the Tribunals will start functioning from rented houses. The State Home Department has started working on the process of setting up the required infrastructure and the aim is to ensure that the Tribunals start functioning from October 1.

Sources pointed out the directions as per the provisions of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Card) Rules, 2003.

Any person not satisfied with the verdicts of hearings of the claims and objections of the process of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) would be eligible for approaching the Foreigners' Tribunals. With the NRC scheduled to be published on August 31, it is expected that a large number of people will approach the Tribunals and that is why, the Government has decided to increase the number of Tribunals.

Sources said that the original plan is to increase the number of Tribunals to one thousand to ensure speedy disposal of the cases. But that will depend on the volume of cases that the Tribunals face after the publication of the NRC. After the completion of the setting up of 200 Tribunals in the first phase, which will increase the number of Tribunals in the State to 300, the Government will set up another 200 in the next phase. A decision on the third phase of setting up of Tribunals will be taken later depending on the requirement. The Government of India has agreed to bear the expenses of setting up of the new Tribunals.

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