Odisha Acts Against Illegal Immigrants, Deletes Bangladeshis From Voters’ List

Odisha has begun disenfranchising suspected immigrants whose names have been in the electoral list. This is amidst growing concerns regarding the possible expulsion of more than 40 lakh people from the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The State Election Commission revised the voters’ list in the district of Kendrapara, and almost 137 suspected immigrants have been removed from the list.

This falls under the voters’ list of Mahakalpada tehsil, as reported by Odisha TV. A verification of nativity and antecedents of these foreign nationals had been done before they were disenfranchised. The above has been stated by the district collector of Kendrapara, Dasarathi Satpathy.

The district has almost 2,000 Bangladeshi immigrants and nearly 4,000 of them have been staying in the state. Other districts with a high number of immigrants are Paradip and Jagatsinghpur.

The Government of Odisha had earlier served a deportation notice to 362 families living in Mahakalpada Tehsil in 2005. This was put on hold after the central government decided to intervene.

A committee consisting of revenue, police and forest officials has been formed to increase the vigil on infiltration into the state.