The creation of Citizenship Amendment Act has set off protest across the country. The act that is passed to address the humanitarian needs, is facing lots of oppose which is probably due to confusion between CAA and NRC.
I have already discussed about CAA in my previous article. Here we will try to understand, What is NRC? History of NRC and about the documents required under NRC. The information here provided is based on NRC rules in Assam.The NRC bill which is expected to be proposed in 2024, is said to be more lenient in comparison to it is now in Assam.
PC: DNA(news)
NRC & Its History:
The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is the register containing names of Indian Citizens. First time the NRC was prepared in 1951 using the data that was obtained in 1951 census. Also its creation is mandated by The Citizenship Act 1955.
The need of NRC was felt because problem of illegal migrant (through infiltration) was rising since it is the border state and hence in 1951 the NRC was prepared. Also an act on illegal migrant, Illegal Migrants Act passed in 1983, was found unconstitutional by supreme court of India and was knocked down in the year 2005 and therefore the government then wanted to update the NRC register. But due to unsatisfactory progress Supreme court of India decided to monitor on its own in the year 2013.
Present Case of NRC :
NRC was brought under amendment in the year 2003 and 2009, which made some documents compulsory to prove Indian citizenship and also enabled it to be applicable all over the nation.
Still it has not been applied nor proposed to do so. But yes, as per its promise in election manifesto the current government will apply it all over the nation. The government has promised Indian Muslims that it won't take away their rights and won't cause injustice to them. In order to assure it, government is planning to propose bill in 2024, instead of 2021.
In spite of this there is lot of chaos around the nation, due to forecast of certain people an political party leaders who are willing to take advantage of it by confusing the people. People are also reacting on the basis of anticipation of opposition party leaders.
Hence I am here providing some information on the basis of NRC rules in Assam and some information obtained from various sources. Instead of reacting the educated population is supposed to respond, talk and express itself in sensible and responsible way. Since lots of people are under confusion its time to clear them. This article is just an effort to make everyone aware of actual fact.
There are two lists under NRC, namely List A & List B. List A has thirteen (13) documents and list B has 8 documents.
If a person is successful in providing even ANY ONE of the document from the list A, he/she will not have to produce any other further document. The second requirement arises if name in any of the documents of List A is no of the applicant himself/herself but that if of the ancestor, namely father or mother or grandfather or grandmother (and so on) of the applicant .In such cases, the applicant shall have to submit documents as in the list B below to establish relationship with ancestor i.e., father or mother or grandfather or grandmother etc. whose name appears in the list A.
List A includes:
- Electoral roll(s) up to march 24 (midnight) 1971.
- Land and tenancy record
- Citizenship certificate.
- Permanent residential certificate.
- Refugee Registration certificate.
- Any government issued licence/certificate.
- Government service/employment certificate.
- Bank or Passport office accounts.
- Birth Certificate.
- Educational certificate.
- court records/processes.
- Passport.
- Any LIC policy.
- Birth Certificate.
- Land document.
- Board/University certificate.
- Bank/LIC/Post office records.
- Circle officer/Gram Panchayat secretary certificate in case of married women.
- Electoral roll
- Ration Card
- Any other legally acceptable document.
In case somebody do not hold land on his name, but used to stay on and provided on lease or by Gram Panchayat in that case lease or tenure documents can be obtained from Lekhpal (accountant) since Lekhpal keeps the record of all the land and the one who owns or authorized to use it.
Above information is based on the NRC rules in Assam, for the nationwide NRC, rules will be different and will be under The Citizenship Rule-2003. An explainer shared by officials said no documents will be required for pre -1971 lineage. Another explainer also gives liberty to "illiterate" in case he/she has no documents, by allowing witness and community verification.
Above information is based on the NRC rules in Assam, for the nationwide NRC, rules will be different and will be under The Citizenship Rule-2003. An explainer shared by officials said no documents will be required for pre -1971 lineage. Another explainer also gives liberty to "illiterate" in case he/she has no documents, by allowing witness and community verification.
Suggestions for corrections in this article is welcomed.
Written By: Dharmesh Tripathi