Non-Inclusion In NRC Doesn’t Make One A Foreigner Says Home Ministry, Extends Time To File Appeals Against Exclusion

The Ministry of Home Affairs under by Union Minister Amit Shah has reviewed the issues related to the final publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam before the 31 August deadline, a press release by the ministry read.

The Ministry has clarified the process of being declared a foreigner under the Foreigners Act 1946 and Foreigners (Tribunals) Order 1964, and said that only Foreigners Tribunals (FTs) are empowered to declare a person as a foreigner. Thus, non-inclusion of a person’s name in NRC does not by itself amount to being declared as a foreigner.

The Ministry had earlier announced the setting of several such tribunals across Assam to speed up the process. The state government is to provide legal aid to the needy people amongst those excluded from NRC.

The time to file appeals in the FTs will also be increased from 60 days to 120 days regarding exclusion from final NRC by amending the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.

The decision by the ministry comes in the wake of a report tabled in the state’s legislative assembly which showed that a particularly large number of indigenous inhabitants had being excluded from the register from tribal districts.

The data showed that the percentage of people excluded from the NRC draft was higher in Hindu-majority districts than that in Muslim-dominated districts, most of them bordering Bangladesh. This had landed the state’s ruling BJP in a fix and the government had demanded a re-verification.

Also Read: Will The NRC Exercise Backfire? Here’s Why The BJP Is Demanding A Re-Verification Of The Data