Give doubtful voters, whose names are in NRC, voting rights: Assam Cong MP in new private member’s Bill

The NRC, published on August 31, 2019, is aimed at creating a bona fide list of Indian citizens in Assam, as per the Assam Accord while D-voters are those whose citizenship is doubtful or under dispute.

This category was introduced in 1997 at the time the Election Commission was revising the state’s voter list. While these people continue to remain on the state’s electoral roll (with a D against their name), they cannot vote till their case has been decided by a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT).

When asked about the Bill, Khaleque said that there were a number of D-voters’ names that appeared in the NRC published on August 31, 2019. “The inclusion of such voters in the final NRC confirms that such voters are citizens of India and are eligible for voting rights. Therefore, such voters who are disenfranchised in the existing voters’ list should get voting rights,” he said. The Bill also proposes that NRC Seva Kendras be established in each district especially to cater to “citizens whose family members have been included in the final NRC, but do not find a place in the list.” Such people should make appeals at Seva Kendra instead of their cases being referred to FTs.

The NRC, published under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court, left out 19 lakh-odd persons, who are now meant to appeal their exclusion in the FTs.

However, with the Assam government holding the August 2019 list as erroneous and pushing for a re-verification, the NRC process has hit a stonewall since with the NRC office yet to issue rejection orders to those excluded.

Moreover, Assam NRC Coordinator Hitesh Sarma has maintained that the NRC list, published in August 2019, is “supplementary” and “not final.” In a December 3 affidavit to the Gauhati High Court, Sarma said that the NRC included 4,700-odd ineligible names. According to him, 1,032 among them fell under the categories of Doubtful Voters, Declared Foreigners (DF), persons with cases pending at Foreigners Tribunals (PFT), and the descendants of these categories.

Khaleque said that even “if the government has not accepted the NRC”, it was a “Supreme Court-mandated exercise and thus legitimate”. He added that till the 17th Lok Sabha is in place, his private member’s Bill “would be valid and may come up for discussion at any point”.

A private member’s Bill — or a Bill introduced by a member, other than a minister — has little possibility of becoming a law. As per PRS Legislative, no private member’s Bill has been passed by Parliament since 1970. To date, Parliament has passed 14 such Bills, six of them in 1956.