All India NRC ‘On The Anvil’, Political Leadership To Take A Call: Home Ministry

After widespread public demand for a nationwide exercise to detect illegal immigrants, Home Ministry sources have said that a National Register of Citizens (NRC) for all the states in the country was on the anvil, Deccan Chronicle has reported. However, the ministry added that the political leadership had to take a call on conducting a nationwide NRC.

Ministry sources, however, admitted that its current challenge is to decide on the fate of those illegal foreigners in Assam saying that it is impossible to deport 40 lakh immigrants. Sources in the ministry that have been quoted in the report have expressed reservations on Bangladesh’s readiness to take back millions of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. The idea of confining them to camps is also not feasible according to the ministry’s sources.

Bio-metric work permits have been identified as a viable option to keep track of these illegal immigrants. While disenfranchisement of those excluded from NRC is imminent, the ministry is also considering the option of barring these individuals from buying immovable property.

The ministry has also said that there have been attempts to create a law and order situation in Assam after the second draft of NRC was released. The ministry however is keeping a close watch on the emerging security situation in the state.