Assam chief minister Sarbonanda Sonowal, who met Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday in Delhi said the government had options for further scrutiny of the citizenship of those who had been included in the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
As per the orders of Supreme Court, which is supervising the process, the final list NRC will have to be published before 31 August.
The NRC is an elaborate process of weeding out foreign nationals that started in 2014. The midnight of March 24, 1971, is the cut-off date based on which residents of Assam have to prove their nationality and get their name included in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) by submitting specific documents as proof.
“In a democratic set-up, the executive does have options,“ the Assam chief minister told reporters when asked whether the state and Centre were considering delaying the publication of the NRC to carry out further verification – a demand made by some social groups of Assam.
“The Union home minister has assured us all support and I am sure that publication of the final list will be peaceful just like the publication of the draft NRC last year,” Sonowal said.
{{/usCountry}}“The Union home minister has assured us all support and I am sure that publication of the final list will be peaceful just like the publication of the draft NRC last year,” Sonowal said.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, senior Union home ministry functionaries had indicated that the government was keen to carry out another round of verifications. There were allegations that the process of verification had been vitiated in some districts.