Hajela leaves Assam on Tuesday, to move on deputation to his native state Madhya Pradesh
মঙ্গলবার আসাম ছাড়ছেন হাজেলা, যাচ্ছেন নিজের রাজ্য মধ্যপ্রদেশে

November 12: On Tuesday, Prateek Hajela, the former State Coordinator of National Register of Citizens (NRC) bade farewell to Assam. Before moving out to his new assignment in his home state Madhya Pradesh, Hajela hold a meeting with his colleagues for the last time in Guwahati. He had spent more than two decades in Assam.

It was Prateek Hajela, who ensured publication of the final version of the National Register of Citizens on 31 August, 2019 under supervision of the Supreme Court. Out of a total number of 3,30,27,661 applicants, the names of 3,11,21,004 were included in the final NRC. That means a total of 19,06,657 persons were excluded from the NRC.

Hajela has been transferred to his home state Madhya Pradesh following a direction of the Supreme Court and relinquished charge as the NRC State Coordinator on 11 November, 2019. Assam Civil Service officer Hitesh Dev Sharma was on last Saturday appointed as the NRC State Coordinator in place of Prateek Hajela. Dev Sharma will start functioning State NRC Coordinator in a full-fledged manner from Tuesday.

The main task of Hitesh Dev Sharma has to complete the unfinished task of Hajela, that is, to update the list after those excluded gets back their citizenship. Those who have been excluded from the NRC have 120 days to appeal against it at Foreigners Tribunals. If not satisfied with the verdict of the tribunals, they will have the option to move the High Court and the Supreme Court for redress.