GUWAHATI: Over 35.5 lakh people, out of the total 40 lakh, who were excluded in the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC), have not yet come forward to include their names in the final list of the Supreme Court-monitored exercise, sources said Sunday. The last day for applying is December 15. Besides, less than 200 applications have been received by the authorities challenging the inclusion of the names of suspected illegal immigrants in the NRC, a list of Assam's residents, two months after a window was opened for claims and objections.
So far, about 4.5 lakh people have submitted applications for inclusion of their names in the NRC and they have submitted relevant documents claiming that they are Indian citizens, a source privy to the development said.
This means 35.5 lakh people have not yet come forward to claim that they are Indians, probably they may not have proper documents, the source said.
Following a directive of the Supreme Court, the process of filing claims and objections to the draft NRC began on September 25, and it will come to an end on December 15.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had claimed that the NRC exercise was carried out with a "political motive" to divide people.
The issue of low turnout in the claims and objections period was also discussed at Saturday's high-level
meeting in New Delhi attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president Amit Shah, Assam Chief
Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Director of Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain, among others.