GUWAHATI, Feb 9 � The State Government today said the ambitious project of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is on schedule with the draft NRC to be published by mid-November this year and the final NRC to be out by January 2016.
The State Government has sent an expenditure proposal of Rs 498 crore to the Centre for this exercise. Over 30,000 government staff and other support staff will take part in the exercise of updating the exercise.
�We will notify the exact dates of various steps of updating the NRC within next two weeks. The draft NRC will be published in end of October or mid-November. After receiving and verifying the objections in the next one month, the final NRC will be published by January 2016 as per original plan,� State Coordinator for NRC Prateek Hajela told reporters here.
He further added, �We have sent a proposal for Rs 498 crore expenditure to the Centre, which has already released Rs 140 crore. The rest of the amount is expected in due course of time.�
Hajela said the media campaign, including releasing advertisements in TV and newspapers, to sensitise the people about the NRC update process has been started. A website dedicated for the purpose has been set up along with a helpline.
From February 16 public awareness meetings at gram sabha, aanchalik panchayat and ward levels will be started, where local functionaries like gaonburhas and anganwadi workers will be directed to participate and leaflets describing the NRC process in detail will be distributed. In addition, there will also be mike campaign in rural areas as part of the capacity building exercise.
This will be followed by the start of the actual process for NRC update, which will involve setting up of 2,500 NRC Sewa Kendras (NSK) across the State. Each NSK is expected to cover 10 villages or 2,600 households.
NRC applications will be distributed door-to-door and the NSKs will be the application receipt centres.
The NSKs will be �Legacy Data� containing details regarding NRC 1951 details, electoral rolls of 1961 and 1971 and other details of individuals. People can check their past data or data of their parents and grandparents in the Legacy Data, which will be a centralized data and available at each NSK.
Besides these data, land records, LIC account records, bank accounts records, university and schools certificates, government job certificates, citizenship certificate, refugee registration certificate, court documents and such data will also be valid.
The final NRC will have photograph of citizens. For women, the basis of NRC application will be ancestry and not marriage.
There will be provision for filling up the NRC application forms online as well. However, physical verification of citizens will be carried out at home by NRC verification team.
�Those who were either not born in 1971 or were not yet of 21 years of age in 1971 will have to provide details of their parents and ancestors for having their names enrolled in the NRC,� Hajela said.
He said the Legacy Data will be published by end of February, beginning with some selected NSKs in the districts of Kamrup Metro, Kamrup Rural, Nalbari and Nagaon, followed by in all 2,500 NSKs across Assam.
�By March end, NRC application forms will be distributed at homes. We will receive filled-up forms at NSKs and online till July. Even as it will continue, door-to-door verification will start from June, to be followed by publication of draft NRC at the end of October or mid-November,� Hajela said.
After that, there will be one month period for claims and objections, before the final NRC is published in January 2016.
Regarding people, who have migrated from one place to another over the years, Hajela said application has to be filed at the place of residence and there is no need to visit their old place as centralized Legacy Data will be available at all NSKs.
The NSKs will be open from 9 am to 5 pm every day.
