The National Register of Citizens (NRC) authority is considering recommending strong action against a senior Assam government official for alleged irregularities in checking documents of people from Chamaria and some nearby areas in Kamrup district after which re-verification had to be done, sources close to the development said
भूटानी जमीन पर NaMo के दूसरी बार कदम, पढ़ें क्यों रगों में बसे हैं हम और किससे है बचाना इसे?
Kamrup deputy commissioner Kamal Kumar Baishya has sent a report to the NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela about two months ago on the alleged irregularities by a former Circle Officer of Chamaria under his district which came to light in 2018.
The report noted how the then Circle Officer allegedly made all the affected people Original Inhabitants (OI) only to reduce his workload, the sources claimed.
He had allegedly ticked the OI column for all the people, including Hindus and Muslims, in the verification list, which lessened his burden for cross-checking the documents as well as the tedious process of finding out the family tree of the applicants, they said.
“It is not a corruption-related case. The DC’s enquiry has found out that the official’s quality of verification was very poor and he was not sincere about his duties,” a source said.
The sources told PTI that the irregularities were initially detected around September 2018, after which the Kamrup district administration swung into action and found that it was affecting the entire Chamaria revenue circle.
The NRC authority was then informed about the development and after much deliberations, it decided to hold re-verification in these areas.
“It was a good pro-active decision by the NRC authority to hold the re-verification process. This shows that they are serious about bringing out an error-free NRC within the deadline,” a source close to the development said.
The NRC authority has taken the report very seriously and is likely to recommend strong action against the erring bureaucrat, who is an Assam Civil Services official, the sources confirmed.
No official comment could be obtained from the NRC office as the Supreme Court had barred them from talking to the media.
The deadline to publish the final NRC is August 31.
The errant official was transferred from Chamaria early last year. A new Circle Officer was appointed in Chamaria, but he left the place within months seeking a voluntary transfer.
In the second half of 2018, the current Circle Officer was appointed.
She along with the deputy commissioner informed the NRC authority about the irregularities and started the process of re-verification.