Hours after the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) was out on Saturday, Assam Finance Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary Himanta Biswa Sarma in an exclusive interview to News18 said the updating process was after all not a futile exercise. Over 19 lakh applicants have failed to make it to the updated NRC, which validates bonafide Indian citizens of Assam.
“This has been a mixed bag for us. People who came in post-1971 as refugees will face problems… We sympathise with them, but there are many who have manipulated the NRC process and we will look into it,” he said.