Issues with nationwide National Register of Citizens

♤ Existence of deportation provisions- as immigrants are subject to laws like the Foreigners Act, 1946 and Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and tribunals are already empowered to detect, detain and deport them.

♤ Legal infirmities- The last time the Central government tried to make an identity enrolment mandatory was the Aadhaar project and this was struck down as excessive (except in limited and justifiable cases). The NRIC scheme, as proposed, would thus be directly in violation of the K.S. Puttaswamy judgment on right to privacy.

♤ Not learning from Assam’s experience- considering the complications that have cropped up in the previous NRC such as-

o No clarity over previous results- on what the end results mean for the 19 lakh plus people who find them outside the NRC, potentially stateless and at risk of “deportation” to Bangladesh, which refuses to acknowledge the same.

o Wastage of public resources- as many critics are questioning the expenditure of the

taxpayers’ money which were spent on the previous NRC.

o Lack of capacity- Assam’s first detention centre is being constructed, but it will only house 3,000 people against the need for 19 lakh people excluded from the final NRC. Further, media reports have been stating that these detention camps are infamous for their inhumane living conditions.

o Protests- Many sections of Assam, like Bodoland students, have been protesting against the repetition of NRC in Assam.

♤ Concerns of minorities: There are fears that such an exercise could end up targeting minorities in the country.

o The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 which makes Hindu illegal migrants and those from certain other minority communities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for Indian citizenship further creates apprehensions about alienation of minorities in the process.

♤ Implementation anomalies- as the NRC will take a gigantic toll on people’s time, money

and productivity, especially of the poor and illiterate sections.

o Under the Foreigners Act of 1946, the burden of proving whether an individual is a citizen or not, lies upon the individual applicant and not on the state. Also, the details of how such an exercise will be carried out are not yet known.

o Further, there is poor documentary culture in India and here around 125 crore Indians will have to produce documentary proof of their ancestors up to a certain date to create a legacy tree.

♤ No specific policy in ascertaining the fate of people: The government has not prepared a post NRC implementation plan, as the possibility of deportation of illegal migrants to Bangladesh is bleak as the people excluded from the list should be proven citizens of Bangladesh, and that will require cooperation from that country.

♤ Allegations of human rights violations- as at a US Congress hearing on human rights in South Asia, not just Kashmir issue was raised but Assam’s NRC also came up.