‘Final Assam NRC a flawed document’

The Assam Public Works (APW), an NGO and the original petitioner in the Supreme Court which led to the update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state, today said the final NRC is a "flawed document".

The APW wondered whether the software used in updating the NRC was capable of handling huge data and if it was examined by any third-party information technology expert, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

APW President Abhijeet Sharma told reporters that "the Final NRC has made it obvious that the problem of illegal immigration will never be resolved in Assam. Had it been completed flawless then it would have been a golden chapter in Assam's history." 

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The APW, as the primary petitioner, had submitted five memoranda to the Supreme Court seeking re-verification of the draft NRC but they were rejected, he said.

"The 27 per cent re-verification done by him (NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela) is a mystery. No one knows whether or not it was 100 per cent flawless," Sharma said.

He also expressed "strong doubt" on the software used as names of many "doubtful" voters had been included in the draft NRC.

"Was it due to the flaws of the software that members of 39 families of 'D' (doubtful) voters of Morigaon district are included in the draft NRC as mentioned by the then District Commissioner?" the APW president asked.

In 2009, the APW had filed a petition with the Supreme Court praying that names of 41 lakh "foreigners" be deleted from the electoral rolls of Assam and the NRC updated.

In response to the petition, the Indian government had told the apex court that the 1951 NRC was being updated.

The Supreme Court in 2013 took up the APW petition and directed both the Indian and Assam governments to begin the process for updating the NRC and the actual work began two years later.