Assam NRC list data goes offline from official website, creates panic among people

In a recent development, the data of the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) has been made offline from its official website due to the non-renewal of the contract with the IT firm Wipro, prompting the Opposition Congress to doubt it as a 'malafide act'.

The detailed file of exclusion and inclusion of bonafide Indian citizens in the NRC was uploaded on its official website. The NRC exercise was carried out in Assam under the supervision of the Supreme Court and around 19 lakh people did not find themselves in the final list published in August 2019. 

The unavailability of data has created panic amongst people, mostly those who were excluded from the list as the rejection certificates were yet to be issued. NRC state coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma, however, nullified the allegation of any 'malafide' intent.

"The cloud service for the huge set of data was provided by Wipro and their contract was till October 19 last year. However, this was not renewed by the earlier Coordinator. So, the data went offline from December 15 after it was suspended by Wipro. I assumed charge on December 24," said Sarma.

Sarma then apprised about the decision of the committee to do necessary formalities in its meeting on January 30 and wrote to Wipro during the first week of February. Furthermore, he said that once Wipro makes the data live, it will be available for the public and assured access in the next 2-3 days.

Taking cognizance of the development,  leader of the Opposition in Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia wrote to the Registrar General of India and requested him to intervene in the matter.

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Assam NRC: Reprieve For Excluded Children If Parents Are In Final List

The government has decided not to send to the detention center, pending a final decision, the children who got excluded from the NRC in Assam but their parents are included, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. A petition had earlier expressed distress over the plight of almost 60 children who did not make it to the citizens’ register but their parents did. According to an application, there was an apprehension that these children would be sent to detention centres as a result of the discrepancy. 

"Attorney General for India stated on January 6, 2020, before the Supreme Court that the children of parents included in NRC, Assam, will not be separated from their parents and sent to a detention center in Assam pending decision on the application," Union Minister of State for Home, Nityananda Rai said.

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(Image credits: PTI)