NRC will be limited to Assam for now: Hansraj Ahir

Minister of State (Home Affairs) Hansraj Ahir on Tuesday said the National Registrar of Citizens (NRC) will be limited to Assam for now.

Ahir filed a written reply in Lok Sabha amid the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, which began on December 11.

On December 12, the Supreme Court had extended the last date of filing claims and objections on the inclusion of names in the draft (NRC) from December 15 to December 31, 2018.

"Out of 40 lakh people who were left out of the final draft NRC, 14.8 lakh people have filed claims," NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela told the apex court.

The top court had also extended the date for commencement of verification to February 15 from the earlier date of February 1.

Earlier, the Assam government had sought an extension of the one-month deadline for filing claims for inclusion in the NRC draft from the Supreme Court.

NRC is a register containing names of Indian citizens, which was prepared for the only time in 1951 and is being updated for only Assam to weed out the illegal immigrants.