Left out in NRC draft, CRPF jawan’s family lives in anxiety as D-Day nears

GUWAHATI: An extended family of a

CRPF jawan

serving in Jharkhand, is spending anxious moments before the release of the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) on August 31.


All 11 members of the family, belonging to the indigenous Bodo tribe at Kalaigaon in Assam’s

Udalguri district

, were left out of the draft released last year. Their biggest fear is having to go to the foreigner’s tribunal to appeal for their inclusion in case they are left out.

While Lakhyadhar Boro, who is serving in CRPF, could not be contacted, his elder brother Padmadhar Boro, who is a state government employee, said their anxiety grew when on August 24 he called up the NRC helpline to find out the status of their ARNs (application receipt numbers).

"I was told they could not find the ARNs. My family was left out of the first and second drafts and then we filed for inclusions. The NRC Seva Kendra at Kalaigaon did not give any specific reason for exclusion but said we would have to file for inclusion,” said Padmadhar, who is posted at Gohpur, nearly 250 kms from his home district.

He said that since last year he has been taking leave from office every now and then to get the necessary papers needed for submission and for hearings. "I submitted my father’s legacy data of 1966. Yet all the 11 members, including my younger brother, who is working in the CRPF, were excluded from the draft. But the same legacy data of my father was submitted by my sister who is married and lives in

Morigaon district

and her name was included. Will we be forced to approach the tribunal if our names are excluded from the final list? We belong to the indigenous community and our family members have government jobs,” Padmadhar said.

The NRC update process, monitored by the Supreme Court, started in 2015. The NRC list of 1951 is being updated under the exercise to prepare a list of bonafide citizens in the state that has witnessed waves of influx from erstwhile East Pakistan after the Partition and the creation of

Bangladesh

in 1971.

The second

NRC draft

was released in July last year, in which 40.07 lakh people out of 3.29 crore applicants were left out. Those excluded were given opportunities to file claims for inclusion. On June 26, the NRC authorities excluded 1,02,462 people already included in the draft released in July last year after re-verifications found that they were not eligible. Hearings for 1,02,462 people started in July this year, and the outcome will be reflected in the final NRC.