Assam CM says he is committed to "free" state of illegal immigrants

Guwahati: The BJP-led government in Assam is committed to “free” the state of all illegal immigrants, CM Sarbananda Sonowal said on Thursday.

Sonowal’s comment comes at a time when Assam and other north eastern states are facing widespread protests over a proposed amendment to the citizenship law, which opponents allege will undermine the sentiments and identities of indigenous communities of the northeast.

“The government came to power with twin promises—one of corruption-free Assam and other of illegal immigrant-free Assam,” the chief minister told reporters on Thursday at a function to mark his government’s second anniversary.


“The work on updation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) is on. This exercise is monitored by the SC and 50,000 state government officials are involved in it,” Sonowal said, adding that a partial first draft of NRC was published on December 31, 2017 and the remaining draft will be published on June 30.

When asked about the state government’s stand on the citizenship bill, Sonowal said, “We will not do anything which is against the interest of Assam”.

He said the state government has created over 45,000 jobs in the last two years and that it is committed to provide land rights as per the recommendations of the HS Brahma Committee report.