SHILLONG: With the Centre contemplating to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) across the country, Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma on Wednesday pushed for the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) that was notified in 2003 but never implemented.
“Don’t mix up NRC and NRIC. NRC is specific to Assam. Why are we not implementing NRIC notified in 2003 through which one will be able to classify the category of residents and identify the genuine citizens,” Sangma said while speaking to reporters on Wednesday.
“The NRIC rules were notified in 2003 but the irony is we did not complete the same”. He stated that it was necessary for all states to have a National Population Register (NPR) to maintain a data bank of the citizens, Sangma said, while adding that once the NRIC exercise is completed all genuine Indian citizens can be identified.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has been constantly demanding for a countrywide NRC claiming that he will ensure all infiltrators are out of India by 2024.
It may be recalled that the NRC in Assam proved to be an expensive experiment with the exercise reportedly costing the central government Rs 1,600 crore to update it.
