State govt will take up the cause of people left out in the

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday said that the state government will take up the cause of those excluded from the final NRC to be published Saturday and ensure that nobody is subjected to any "unnecessary harassment".

As long as the appellant's plea remains sub-judice with the Foreigner's Tribunal, he or she cannot be treated as a foreigner, the chief minister said in a statement here.

He, therefore, appealed to the people of the state belonging to Barak, Brahmaputra, hills and plains to maintain peace and tranquility and set an example of a matured society.

Sonowal further assured that those whose names have been excluded from the NRC will get an oppurtunity to file their appeal and be heard in the Foreigners' Tribunal (FT) as per the direction of the Union Home Ministry.

"The fact that the extension of filing an appeal from 60 days to 120 days to the FT, will help all excluded persons to enjoy a level playing field", he said.

"Nobody will be subjected to any unnecessary harassment," the CM said.

The National Register of Citizens is an outcome of the untiring efforts of thousands of people and it has been possible to update it due to unconditional support of the people of Assam, he added.

The citizens register is being updated by the NRC State Coordinator and his team under the monitoring of the Supreme Court of India and supervision of the Registrar General of India.

The final NRC will be published on Saturday in Assam, the only state in the country where it is being updated after 1951.

In July last year, 40,07,707 people were excluded from the complete draft of the NRC, which contained 2,89,83,677 eligible persons out of a total 3,29,91,384 applicants.

An additional 1,02,462 persons were included in the list of excluded persons in June this year, taking the total ineligible persons to 41,10,169 in the complete draft.