Guwahati, April 5: Assam Public Works (APW), a leading rights group and the original petitioner in the Supreme Court, which led to updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam about a decade back, has drawn the Prime Minister’s attention towards alleged corruption in the exercise of updating the citizen’s register in the state.
In a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, as well as the Union home minister on Wednesday, the city-based group sought the Prime Minister’s intervention, requesting him to “to direct the enforcement directorate to inquire into the matter and book those involved in corruption.”
“The update of NRC was taken up in 2013 in Assam under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court of India. Though the exercise was to be completed within three years, it is yet to be completed till date, owing to the irresponsible performance of the then state coordinator, NRC, Prateek Hajela,” APW president Aabhijeet Sharma wrote in the letter.
“Leaving apart the mismanagement of Hajela, the then state coordinator, there has been large-scale corruption in the Rs 1,600-crore project by Hajela, which has been reflected in the report of the Comptroller General of India (CAG) that was tabled before the state Assembly a couple of months ago,” Sharma stated.
“It is seen in the CAG report that there were financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 260 crore. Against remuneration to the data entry operators, Rs 155.88 crore was siphoned off, depriving the contractual staff. The Comptroller General of India held Prateek Hajela responsible for this huge corruption,” the APW president stated.
“The state government is yet to take action on the matter till date and we apprehend there will be inordinate delay in taking any action or there won’t be any action at all as Hajela was working as commissioner, home department of Assam for six to seven years, and he has huge influence over the state bureaucracy. There are other reasons also for our apprehension,” he stated.
Notably, APW had filed one FIR with the state police (Paltan Bazar police station) on October 14, 2022 in regard to the alleged corruption in the NRC update exercise.
“But the FIR is yet to be registered by Assam Police. After that we appealed to the DGP, Assam on February 14, 2023 for registration of the FIR. There has been no action taken by the DGP also,” Sharma stated.
Two FIRs were lodged by Hitesh Dev Sarma, the then state coordinator, NRC, Assam in May and June 2022 with the state CID and vigilance department with the same subject. “These FIRs also are yet to be registered by the state police,” he stated.
“Keeping in view of the above, we ardently request you to look into the matter personally and use your good office to direct the enforcement directorate to inquire into the matter and book the culprits involved in corruption,” Sharma stated.
“…Under the leadership of Prateek Hajela, the names of lakhs of foreigners were enlisted in the NRC which has been mentioned in the affidavit filed by the then state coordinator, NRC, Assam, Hitesh Dev Sarma, and is also known to the Registrar General of India as well as the Union home ministry,” the APW president stated.
“Since the NRC is related to national security, the reasons for inclusion of foreigners’ names may be inquired upon by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). We suspect that a huge amount of money from the Middle East nations was in play for inclusion of names of Bangladeshi Muslims in the NRC. Hence, there is a need for investigation by the NIA (National Investigation Agency) also,” he stated.
“We very much appreciate your love and affection towards Assam and Assamese people. Considering our apprehension that the state government is not keen in taking action on the matter, your good office needs to take action directly,” Sharma stated in the letter.