Security beefed up in Assam ahead of NRC final list on August 31

Adequate security arrangements have been made in Assam ahead of the publication of the final list of the government's National Register of Citizens (NRC).

As per the orders of Supreme Court, the final NRC list is scheduled to be published on August, 31.

"Ahead of NRC's final list release, we have taken care of all the security arrangements. Police and other security forces have also been briefed about the arrangements. Superintendents of Police in all districts have sensitized police personnel in order to assure proper security arrangements," Kuladhar Saikia, Director General of Police (DGP), Assam told ANI on Thursday.

"We hope that the citizens of Assam will support the legal process and I believe this entire process will be completed peacefully," Saikia added.

Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had urged the people to not believe in rumours related to the final publication of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam on August 31.

The ministry reiterated that non-inclusion of a person's name in NRC does not amount to his or her being declared a foreigner.

"Every individual left out from final NRC can appeal to Foreigners Tribunals (FTs), an increased number of which are being established," the spokesperson of Home Ministry had tweeted.

Posting guidelines for those who have been left out of the final list, the spokesperson said that time limit for filing appeals in FTs has been increased from 60 to 120 days.

NRC is a register containing names of Indian citizens, which was prepared for the only time in 1951. It is being updated for Assam as of now to weed out illegal immigrants. Last month, the Supreme Court had extended the deadline for the final publication of NRC from July 31 to August 31. It had rejected a plea to extend the NRC deadline for sample verification.