NRC coordinator tells SC semi-literate people cannot fill out objection forms
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Assam's National Register of Citizens has left 40 lakh people off the list. If they do not get back on to the list, they will be considered non-Assamese and therefore non-Indian citizens.
Supreme Court on Wednesday extended the deadline for filing claims and objections on the inclusion of names in the draft National Register of Citizen (NRC) for Assam by those who have been left out in the draft NRC from December 15 to December 31, 2018.
The SC issued the order after NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela told the court that out of 40 lakh people who were left out of the final draft NRC, 14.8 lakh people have filed claims with the authorities for inclusion in the NRC.
There has been a surge in such applications in last few weeks and hence, the deadline be extended by one more month, he said.
The draft NRC was published on July 30 in which names of 2.89 crore of the 3.29 crore people were included. The names of 40,70,707 people did not figure in the list. Of these, 37,59,630 names have been rejected and the remaining 2,48,077 are on hold.
A special bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice R F Nariman considered the plea of Assam government that the deadline of December 15, fixed for filing claims and objections by those left out in the draft NRC, be extended by till January 15 next year.
NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela tells Supreme Court,"Out of 40 lakh people who were left out of the final draft NRC, 14.8 lakh people have filed claims."
— ANI (@ANI) December 12, 2018
In his filing, the NRC coordinator said that it was not possible for semi-literate people to fill up the forms.
The state government in its petition said those panchayat elections is the other reason that they are seeking an extension.
The apex court also told Hajela that the draft should be made available at the local offices to enable those who want to file claims and objections.
(With PTI inputs)