NRC becomes radarless with the transfer of Hajela: Tarun Gogoi

October 23: In the backdrop of the transfer of Prateek Hajela, State Coordinator of National registrar of Citizens, an atmosphere of uncertainty seems to loom large on the process of upgradation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Tarun Gogoi said that with the transfer of Hajela, the NRC process has become “NRC update process radarless and headless.”

Gogoi said that the Supreme Court ought to have made some alternative arrangements before issuing the  the transfer order of Prateek Hajela. Meanwhile, alleging ‘discrepancies’ in the final list, three separate FIRs were also lodged against Hajela by a lawyer, a Muslim students’ organization and APW. Even heavyweight minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma sought re-verification of the NRC final list and strongly attacked Hajela.

The final NRC list of Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published on 31 August, 2019. 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.