Assam NRC: Assam Citizens' List NRC Put Up On Website, Status Of 41 Lakh At Stake

Assam's final NRC was published at 10 am.

Highlights

High security in Assam, thousands of security personnel on duty
Those left out of final NRC can appeal in the Foreigners Tribunal
Centre has said it will give legal aid to those who have been left out

Guwahati/New Delhi: The final National Register of Citizens or NRC - a list intended to identify legal residents and weed out illegal immigrants from Assam - has been published and the website is live. Around 41 lakh people expected to be left out. Coming just weeks after the centre struck down Jammu and Kashmir's decades-old autonomy, the NRC too is expected to go down as one of the biggest moves in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second term. Security has been tightened in Assam, with tens of thousands of paramilitary personnel and police posted across the north-eastern state bordering Bangladesh.

Here are top 10 points on the Assam NRC:

"The list would be available online by 10 am and those who do not have internet connections can go to Seva Kendras set up by the state government to check their status," a senior officer in the Home Ministry told NDTV.
The centre has said people whose names don't appear in the final NRC cannot be declared foreigners till all legal options are exhausted. Every person left out of the NRC can appeal to the Foreigners Tribunal, and the time limit to file the appeal has been extended from 60 to 120 days.
The Home Ministry said at least 1,000 tribunals will be set up in phases to hear disputes; 100 tribunals are already open and 200 more will be set up in the first week of September. If one loses the case in the tribunal, one can approach the high court and then the Supreme Court. No one will be put in detention centres until all legal options are exhausted, the government has said.
In the run up to the list's publication, security has been tightened and any gathering of more than four people at several public places is banned, especially at sensitive areas that have seen violence in the past, including main city Guwahati. Some 60,000 policemen have been posted and the centre has sent 20,000 additional paramilitary forces to Assam.
The Assam Police tweeted the government has "ensured adequate safeguards for people whose name may not appear in the final NRC". "Don't believe rumours, as some elements are trying to create confusion in society. Safety of citizens is our top priority," it said.
"As long as an appeal is there, no one will be treated as foreigners. Because the authority to declare a person foreigner lies only with the foreigners' tribunal," Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said.
The centre has said it will give legal aid to those who have been left out of the NRC through the district legal services authorities. The ruling BJP in Assam and its rival Congress plan to assist some "genuine" people whose names are missing in the NRC, and several non-profits have come forward to volunteer with legal help.
Some BJP leaders have raised concerns over a large number of Bengali Hindus being left out of the NRC. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, after meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah last week, said the centre may consider bringing in a law to remove foreigners who could have entered the list and add genuine citizens who could have been left out.
Sources said the BJP may be worried over exclusion of a large number of Hindus. It is estimated that a majority of Assam's 18 per cent Bengali Hindu vote bank supports the BJP. In the national election this year, the BJP won nine out of 14 seats in Assam - a stellar performance due to consolidation of tribals, Assamese Hindus and Bengali Hindus.
The National Register of Citizens (NRC), first published in Assam in 1951, is being updated as per directions of the Supreme Court to segregate Indian citizens living in Assam from those who have illegally entered the state from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971.