'Govt open to suggestions in effecting changes in implementng

Republican Party of India (A) chief and Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Monday said the NRC was only for Assam and not for the whole country and indicated that the government was open to suggestions in effecting changes in implementing CAA if there are problems.

"NRC is only for Assam, it is not all over India.

Now the government of India has also said that any suggestions from anywhere can be conveyed to them in this regard....

My party also supports the NRC and CAA. But if there are any problems, definitely the government of India should think at amending some things in (implementing) this law " Athawale said.

His comments came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi sought to allay fears, especially among Muslims, on the NRC, saying his government has never discussed it since coming to power for the first time in 2014.

The issue was neither discussed in Parliament nor came up in the cabinet, the Prime Minister had said.

Assuring the Muslim community that the law was not against them, Athawale said the government wanted unity among Hindus, Muslims and other communities in the country.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has clearly said that we are not against the Muslim community.

Many programmes of his government like Ujwala and Jan Dhan, among others, have not differentiated between Hindus and Muslims....Muslims are also beneficiaries of several such programmes.

NDA government fully supports the Muslim community."