Topics Covered: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
National Register of Citizens (NRC):
Context:
The final list of Assam’s updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published on August 31 last year.
But a year since that date, the process hasn’t moved forward much.
- The 19 lakh applicants (of the total 3.30 crore) who were left out of the list have not been able to file appeals as they are yet to get rejection slips needed to do so.
Reasons for the delay:
The ongoing COVID-19 crisis and the floods in between.
What are rejection slips?
The rejection slips are required for those left out of the NRC to file appeals in the foreigners’ tribunals (FTs), a quasi-judicial body that decides the fate of those declared suspected foreigners.
- These slips will mention reasons for exclusion of an applicant’s name.
- The state NRC office has to issue to rejection slips.
What is NRC?
The NRC is the list of Indian citizens and was prepared in 1951, following the census of 1951.
- The process of NRC update was taken up in Assam as per a Supreme Court order in 2013.
- In order to wean out cases of illegal migration from Bangladesh and other adjoining areas, NRC updation was carried out under The Citizenship Act, 1955, and according to rules framed in the Assam Accord.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- Relation between Census and NPR.
- NPR vs NRC.
- How NRC is related to Assam accord.
- Constitutional provisions wrt to grant and revocation of citizenships.
- Who carries out Census?
- What are rejection slips? Who issues them?
- Composition and functions of Foreigners’ Tribunals.
Mains Link:
Discuss why a nationwide NRC exercise may not be feasible.
Sources: the Hindu.
