NRC list to be out today; 218 CAPF companies deployed

GUWAHATI: Assam is poised to get an updated National Register of Citizens (NRC), almost 34 years after the Assam Accord was inked in 1985. A list of certified Indian citizens in the state to be published on Saturday will seal the fate of over 41 lakh people who are not in the list. The list will conclude an exercise to ‘weed out illegal migrants’ that started in 2013.

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal urged the people of the state to maintain peace. The CM said that the NRC, which has been updated by the state NRC coordinator and his team under the monitoring of the Supreme Court of India and supervision of the Registrar General of India, is the outcome of untiring efforts of thousands of people.

Sonowal said that those who do not figure in Saturday’s list needn’t panic, assuring that they would get an opportunity to file their appeals and be heard in the Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) as per the directions of the Union Home Ministry. He said the fact that filing an appeal to the FT has been extended to 120 days from the current 60 will give those people a level playing field, and said the state government will take care of such people and make sure that they are not harassed.


Sonowal maintained that as long as appellant’s plea remains sub-judice with the Tribunal, he or she won’t be treated as a foreigner.

Meanwhile, the state has deployed around 218 companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) to tackle any possible disturbance after the publication of the final list, and cops are also keeping close tabs on social media posts, which can be communally sensitive. An initial survey of the Assam Police has identified as many as 1,200 NRC seva kendras (out of 2,500) as sensitive, as prohibitory orders have been clamped in and around several kendras.

Assam Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia said on Friday said that the state is peaceful and the police are in touch with NRC officials in every district. “In a meeting on August 23, we have made elaborate security arrangements. We are keeping a watch on social media and area domination exercises have been taken up across the state,” said Saikia. The police chief also said that there have been a reinforcement of 51 additional companies of CAPF to the 167 sent earlier for NRC duties. “We will deal with those who take law into their own hands,” he said.