The National Register of Citizens final list was published on the official website at 10 am on Saturday. Within minutes of the publication, the website crashed due to heavy traffic, NDTV reported.
“The site cannot be reached,” an error message on www.nrcassam.nic.in read. Subsequently, many people queued up at NRC centres in the state to check their names on the list. The website was restored later in the day.
Another website, www.assam.mygov.in, was however available throughout the day, where citizens could check their names on the list.
The final list included the names of 3.11 crore people and excluded nearly 19 lakh. Those whose names are not in the list can file an appeal with the Foreigners’ Tribunal in the state within 120 days.
Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress on Saturday criticised the list. Assam minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Supreme Court should allow re-verification of the names on the final list. “Names of many Indian citizens who migrated from Bangladesh as refugees prior to 1971 have not been included in the NRC because authorities refused to accept refugee certificates,” Sarma said.
Former Assam Chief Minister and Congress leader Tarun Gogoi blamed the BJP. “Many genuine Indians – especially Bengali Hindus – have been excluded from the NRC while several foreigners have been included,” Gogoi said.
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