The Supreme Court on Monday extended the deadline for publishing the final draft of Assam’s National Register of Citizens to July 30, PTI reported. The top court had earlier extended the original deadline for the final draft from May 31 to June 30.
This comes days after NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela said it would not be possible to release the final draft on the scheduled date due to floods in Assam. The deluge in Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts in the Barak Valley, parts of Karbi Anglong and Hojai hampered the process to publish the NRC on time, Hajela had said. He had said that a petition was filed in the Supreme Court seeking an extension.
Assam began to update the National Register of Citizens in 2015 to create a definitive list of citizens of the state. The first draft was published on January 1, and has verified 1.9 crore people out of the 3.29 crore who applied.
As the deadline for the final draft approaches, and thousands fear they may suddenly be declared foreigners, tensions run high in Assam. Anticipating turbulence when the final draft is published, the state administration has deployed security forces across Assam and asked for reinforcements from the Centre.
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