NGO for probe into register update process by investigation agencies
GUWAHATI: Assam Public Works (APW), the primary petitioner in the Supreme Court, which led to the updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), has decided to file another petition in the apex court next month requesting the government to engage agencies such as CBI, Enforcement Directorate and NIA to investigate the NRC update process.
“We are ready to submit yet another petition to the court on November 17, 2019. We urge the government to investigate many sides of the (update) process of NRC by different investigating agencies such as CBI, ED and NIA,” a statement issued by the city-based NGO said on Tuesday.
The apex court had last Friday heard the NRC issue, following a writ petition (civil) No 274/2009 by APW, and directed the Centre and the Assam government to transfer National Register of Citizens (NRC) Assam state coordinator, Prateek Hajela to Madhya Pradesh for the maximum period.
The next date of hearing on the issue has been fixed on November 26, 2019.
The NGO however stated that it was baffled by the apex court order directing Hajela’s immediate transfer which will “allow him to move out of Assam”.
APW also advocated the need for the audit of the information technology (IT) used in the NRC update process.
“There has been a huge chunk of money released by the concerned authority to various organisations for IT assistance required in the process, such as Wipro, Bohniman Systems Pvt. Ltd, Maddok Technologies, Trans Technologies Solutions, RJ-45 Technology, etc. But, not a single audit has been coordinated in this matter and hundreds of crores of rupees have been paid to them by the concerned authority of NRC,” the statement said.
“We have also requested the Assam chief minister and recommended through a memorandum names of different officials for the coordination of NRC in future times. We hope the government will assign the responsibilities to an honest and effective official who could perform the assigned duties with responsibility,” the statement said.
The NGO further hoped that the new official should start the task with a comprehensive investigation of the process of NRC till date, covering each and every aspect of the matter, ranging from finance to IT and take the necessary action to rectify the flaws and move forward in a positive manner.