Several financial irregularities in NRC update process: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said that a huge financial scam took place in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) update process.

"An inspection report by the Accountant General of Assam confirms that a huge financial scam took place in the NRC update process. We did not make it public while the NRC update process was underway as it could have affected the process," Sarma told media here.

He said that the process of finding irregularities in the NRC is over and soon the government will make the data public.

The Minister further informed that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found 16 instances of "financial irregularities" while going through the papers and functioning of the NRC office.

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

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