AASU urges Centre, state to move Supreme Court for fresh NRC re-verification

Guwahati, June 19: The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) has urged both the Assam and Central governments to file a fresh appeal in the Supreme Court seeking a complete re-examination of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The appeal was made during the sixth meeting of the sub-committee for the implementation of the Assam Accord, held in Guwahati on Wednesday.

The student body, along with government officials, including Implementation of Assam Accord Minister Atul Bora, convened to review the progress on implementing various clauses of the historic Accord. 

"We have consistently demanded a complete re-examination of the NRC, not just partial re-verification," said AASU president Utpal Sarma.

“The government's earlier proposal of 20% re-verification in border districts and 10% in others was inadequate and not supported by us. The final NRC left out 19 lakh people, whereas the initial figure stood at 40 lakh. This discrepancy needs to be addressed thoroughly", he added.

AASU asserted that both the Centre and the state had expressed dissatisfaction with the published NRC but had failed to act on their promises.

"They told us that action would be taken after the completion of the delimitation process, but nothing was done," Sarma added. He confirmed that AASU would soon file a fresh petition and urged the government to do the same.

AASU chief adviser Samujja Bhattacharya said that discussions with the Chief Minister have begun, and 67 key issues related to the Accord have been identified.

"Of these, decisions on 38 issues have been taken under the state government's purview. Thirteen issues still remain unresolved at the state level, while 15 fall under the central government and require tripartite discussions. We were informed that talks on these central issues are expected to begin in the first week of July", he added.

A significant portion of the discussion focused on Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, which aims to protect and promote the cultural, social, and linguistic identity of the Assamese people.

The sub-committee is currently reviewing the 39 recommendations submitted by the Justice Biplab Kumar Sarma Committee and is scheduled to submit its final report to the Chief Minister before August 8.

In addition to Clause 6, AASU also brought attention to Clause 7, which pertains to the economic development of Assam.

Minister Bora said that the AASU leadership offered several valuable suggestions to expedite the implementation process, including formation of a Sub-Committee on the Clause 7 of the Assam Accord. "In alignment with our Government’s vision, I instructed the concerned officials to ensure time-bound and effective execution of the assigned tasks," he posted in social media.