Need to enact new Citizenship Act before implementing NRC nationally: BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta

Supporting Union Home Minister Amit Shah's suggestion that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) should be introduced throughout India, Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta on Thursday said that it should not be done before enacting a new Citizenship Act as the present one has 'several lacunae.'

"There is a need for a codified citizenship list in India, but what is very important is that the NRC must follow the changes in the citizenship Act that the government is thinking. It cannot happen before that. There is a lot of lacunae in the Citizenship Act and the Parliament must immediately enact a new Citizenship Act," said Dasgupta told ANI.

"Various proposals are before the country in this regard. Once that is done, the process of NRC should begin," he added.

Union Home Minister Shah recently said there was no country in the country where anyone can go and settle. "To have a national register of citizens is the need of the time, not only in Assam but the NRC should be implemented throughout India," Shah said on Wednesday.

Shah on September 9 too had said in Guwahati that his government wants to make the whole country free of infiltrators and not just Assam.

"In all states, especially in Assam, people have expressed concern for NRC. They think that many people have been left out of NRC. Smaller states have concerns that those left out in the NRC could come to their states. I want to assure that no infiltrator can live in Assam and they cannot enter other states because we want to make the whole country free of infiltrators, not just Assam," he had said while speaking at the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) meeting.

In the final NRC list published on August 31 for Assam, a total of 3,11,21,004 persons are found eligible for inclusion in final list leaving out 19,06,657 persons, including those who did not submit their claims.

The list is aimed at segregating Indian citizens living in Assam from those who had illegally entered the state from Bangladesh.