'Provide security to NRC officials facing threats'

GUWAHATI: The leading state government employees' union, Sodou Asom Karmachari Parishad (SAKP), and the foremost student organization, All Assam Students' Union (Aasu), observed Preronar Din (Day of Inspiration) across the state on Friday in support of government employees who are executing the mammoth National Register of Citizens (NRC) update process.
Amid allegations of pressure being mounted on certain employees to insert the names of 'illegal migrants' without valid documents in the NRC, both the organizations have demanded the district administrations to provide security to the employees working in sensitive areas of the state.The NRC verification process, which is set to be completed by May 31, has entered the final phase.
The day was marked with programmes near a martyrs' columns in the capital city, with tributes being paid to those who were killed in the six-year-long anti-foreigner movement in Assam from 1979 to 1985. Floral tributes were paid by the SAKP and Aasu leaders in the martyrs' columns at Ganeshguri in the city to boost morale of all the district and police officials as well as other employees engaged in the much awaited NRC update process, as the NRC final draft is to be published by June 30.
"Officers and employees engaged in the NRC works are carrying out their duty to the nation. Without bowing down to any pressure, they will have to devote themselves to preparing an error-free NRC, free from the names of illegal immigrants in the crucial days ahead. Many officials are being engaged in some of the remotest parts of the state, who are facing threats at different levels. The government must provide a sense of security to those officials on whom pressure is mounting as the date of publishing the NRC final draft is nearing," said SAKP president Basab Kalita.
Aasu general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi lauded government employees who remain firm in their duty despite facing pressure from different sections to include the names of illegal migrants who entered Assam illegally after March 25, 1971. "All illegal immigrants who entered the state after March 25, 1971 can be detected only after we get a correct updated NRC. We salute the officials for their sincerity in this mammoth exercise," said Gogoi.
A high level delegation of the SAKP and Aasu will meet NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela on Saturday demanding to adopt a water-tight policy in updating the national register so that not even a single illegal immigrant succeeds in enrolling his or her name in the updated NRC.