This Blog is written By Mr. Kushagra Vikram Student of Amity Law School, Lucknow Campus.
What is NRC?
The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is the
official record containing names of legal Indian Citizens. First time The
National Register of Citizens (NRC) was conducted in the 1951 Census of India. NRC
includes demographic information of individuals who are eligible as citizens of
India. Assam was the first state in the north-east to gain NRC as national
importance. The register is meant for separating them from undocumented migrants which
mostly came from Bangladesh since the 20th century.
International view
The behavior of National Register of Citizens (NRC) towards people and the wider experience of
India’s religious minority is important to take an international perspective.
The global wave of right-wing nationalist party politics such as trump’s America,
Brexit Britain and across the part of Europe and Asia it is difficult to be a
refugee or an immigrant. Trump has not abstained from dehumanizing refugees and
immigrants and he has mentioned refugees as “animals”. Even Hungarian President
Viktor Orban sees these Muslim refugees as Muslim invaders.U.N. Refugee
official has advised India to make sure that no person should leave stateless.
The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi
mention that “any process that could leave large
numbers of people without a nationality would be an enormous blow to global
efforts to eradicate statelessness.”
A team of United Nations (UN) special rapporteurs
on freedom of religion has gained concerned over the National Register of
citizen (NRC) because of uncertainty over the status who may have been excluded
from the update of National Register of Citizens (NRC) and have serious concern
over the future of those individuals who are been excluded. The letter was sent by
the United Nations (UN) to Centre expressing concern regarding the excluded
individuals and it was also stated that the team of United Nations (UN) had not
received any response from the Indian government. The very first letter of the United
Nations (UN) rapporteurs indicates concern over the state government’s role in
compiling and updating the NRC. The second letter by United Nations (UN)
mentioned
“that extension of the deadline for filing claim and objections from December
15 to December 31. Before one week of the deadline, it shows that approx. 70,000
claims and objections have been filed which is only just 10 percent of all
persons excluded from the list. A particular mode for this process has been
introduced by the Supreme Court in a judgment. A new standard operating
procedure (SOP) was established for improving the system and better clarifications”.
The United Nations (UN) letter further stated that the objection period started
on September 25, 2018, and the standard operating procedure (SOP) was introduced
on November 1, 2018, with all the new standard operating procedure (SOP) there
are strict verification standards making it difficult to get documentation and
raising fear of mass rejection.
The special rapporteurs also stated that the
National Register of Citizens (NRC) update has been affected a great number of
Muslims and the persons of Bengali descent and other minorities who have been
wrongfully excluded from the update of National Register of Citizens (NRC) because
of their historical and continuing treatment as foreigners and illegal
immigrants in Assam. U.N. also mentioned that December 31, the deadline is not an
enough period for filing claims and objections, it appears that many people who
have been excluded from the list did not have a
fair opportunity to challenge. The All Assam Student’s Association
(AASU) general secretary Lurin Jyoti Gogoi said that the United Nations (UN) shouldn’t
be concern about the National Register of Citizen (NRC) process as it is going
under the supervision of Supreme Court as per laws of this country and All
Assam Student’s Association (AASU) also stated that what has the United Nations
(UN) has done to protect the indigenous people of Assam, it is a conspiracy to
put an international spotlight on the issue to stop the National Register of
Citizen (NRC) process. If the United Nations (UN) is so concerned then why
don’t they raise the real issue of indigenous people of Assam at the United Nations
(UN) platform as the state has changed on account of the influx of illegal
foreigners.
The need for NRC in India
There are supposed to be millions of illegal Bangladeshi
Muslims living all over India mostly in Kerala with the implementation of
National Register of Citizens (NRC) all over part of India will help to
identify illegal immigrants. In Karnataka, there are around 40,000 illegal
immigrants working in Hotel and coffee plantation industries, 50 percent of
workers in the coffee plantation are from North-Eastern side and they don’t have
any kind of identification documents, Bangalore and some area are to be
particularly affected. A large number of illegal immigrants are in West Bengal
which has even surpassed the Assam.
By bringing National Register of Citizens (NRC)
all over India will help the Government to identify them even those illegal
immigrants may or may not be security threat but they certainly take away the
job opportunities & resources from legal Indians,
because illegal immigrants are consuming resources such as food, land and
other opportunities that belong to Indian legal citizens. As the Indian population is increasing day by day
and natural resources are been used at a faster rate and environment degradation
by the population, it is necessary to control the population by introducing National
Register of Citizen (NRC).
National Population Register (NPR) is a list of
all residents who have lived at the same locality for at least six months and
even plans to stay in that area for the next six months or more. National
Population Register (NPR) will contain demographic and biometric particulars
and it will be carried out from April to September 2020, except Assam it will
be carried out in all the states and union territories. It will include details
of every individual are required such as name, relationship to the head of the
family, fathers name, mothers name, spouses name if married, place of birth
sex, date of birth, nationality, present address of usual residence, duration
of stay at present address, permanent residential address, occupation,
educational qualification. The Government has said that no proof and documents
are been required for data entry in the National Population Register (NPR), verbal
communication is enough.
National Register of Citizen (NRC) declares clear
cut demarcation of who qualifies or not qualifies to be an Indian legal citizen
from other nationals who have been illegally living in India. All states in India
must implement the use of the National Register of Citizen (NRC) which must get
updated every ten years. It is important for the political spectrum to keep
within the lines of the law when it comes to illegal immigration. With rising
economy it’s important to have an exact number of citizens and foreign nationals
living in a country whether it’s legal or illegal and it will help in exercising
other rights awarded to the citizens, to ensure rapid growth in the economy the government needs to eliminate the chances of any such right getting exploited.
When the government has the exact number of citizens it will be helpful for
them to make better policies and implementation of such policies. An expand and
implementation is key to effectively control and monitor illegal immigration
and acting as a restraint to the
votaries of vote bank politics, its long term gains are definitely tangible.
NRC a bad idea
There are many illegal immigrants in several
parts of India but the National Register of Citizen (NRC) process is like
looking for a needle in a haystack. The data, or the lack of it, shows there’re
some illegal immigrants among 40 crore people and it is not possible
practically to go around and check each and every Indian individual family
tree.
For the implementation of the National Register of
Citizen (NRC) it will cost huge and wastage of tax-payers money, in Assam
alone National Register of Citizen (NRC) cost around 1,220 crores if National
Register of Citizen (NRC) is implemented by all the state it might cost more
than 3 lakh crore and it is not even possible to build many detention centers
to hold so many people for years or maybe forever.
Whether these poor Bangladeshi immigrants really
a threat to India’s sovereignty and security? If they are stealing job
opportunities and resources then why don’t we feel the same about the Nepali
citizen who is allowed to work in India and can move freely? If some illegal
immigrants are a burden on resources, jobs, and government then why the government is strongly
wanting to import non –Muslims from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The National Register Of Citizen (NRC) which was
implemented in Assam has leftover 19 lakh people stateless, deporting them
will be diplomatic and Human Rights nightmare that any government will avoid.
Even allowing illegal immigrants to live with limited rights is also not an
option. It is the government's responsibility to make sure that their rights remain
protected until all legal options are exhausted. The preliminary National
Register of Citizen (NRC) list has excluded 40 lakh people and this is now down
to 19 lakh this could indicate that either the illegal immigrants are not such
a big problem or corruption has entered into the National Register of Citizen
(NRC) the process with forged documents. That is why many leaders are asking for a
re-verification of the NRC list, specifically in the border districts.
Is there any other country that follows practice like NRC?
All countries maintain a register of its citizens
in one form or other like in the United States of America your green card is a type
of NRC without a green card you can’t stay and you will not be declared as
American Citizen. Green Card is known as Permanent Resident Card which is given
to the immigrants it grant privilege to reside in the United States of America (U.S.A.)
permanently, individuals are considered as lawful permanent residents. They
have a system known as Social Security Number (SSN) which is given to all U.S
citizens as soon as you are born or as soon as you have entered the country
legally for non-U.S citizens.
In the United Kingdom, your Indefinite Leave to Remain
(ILR) or permanent residency is a kind of NRC, it allows immigrants to reside
and work without any restriction on the length of stay, even the ILR residents
may apply for UK Citizenship after a period of continuous residence.
In Pakistan National Database and Registration
Authority has issued Computerized National Identity Card also known as
electronic identity card.
Impact/Consequences if implemented nationwide
After the implementation of the National Register of
Citizen (NRC) in Assam there has been a demand for implementation of NRC all over
India, It will help the government to identify illegal immigrants who are
living in India illegally and detain them and deport them to where they came
from. If Nationwide National Register of Citizen (NRC) is implemented the
affected will be detained and taken to large detention centers as happening in Assam
which will cost more than 3 lakh crore to the Indian government it may lead to
economic disaster, it may be the most expensive administrative exercise in India’s
history. The Ministry of External Affairs will contact the concerned the nation of immigrants if the detained are matched and accepted by the concerned the nation then deportation will take place.
National Register of Citizen (NRC) is a process
in which government will ask each and every individual residing in India to
prove their citizenship so that the government can expel undocumented immigrants.
If it is carried out nationwide it will accelerate the ongoing employment and
income crisis which individuals are already experiencing. Implementation of National
Register of Citizen (NRC) in Assam almost took decades and it involves almost
50,000 government employees, nationwide NRC would a large number of government
employees of state government and central government and most of the government
officials will be diverted in the process of implementation of NRC nationwide.
Not only time and efforts will be wasted but there will be a severe impact on
individuals as crores of people will try to obtain documentation to prove their
citizenship which would effect on industries which are dependent on migrants
and home-based workers and also have an impact on industries like real state,
tanning and many other sections of trade, it will affect the economy of the
nation. Like demonetization caused wreaked on the economy and the goods and
services tax has been a direct result of the way both measures targeted the
unorganized sector and small producers, the National Register of Citizen (NRC) will
also, do the same effect at a bigger level.
Millions of people will be declared non-citizens,
deprived of the ability to vote, access to own property and access to basic welfare
which will lead reduced to poverty and desperation. These people will flood
the market as willing to work for wages lower than a normal citizen, because
they can either choose to die or choose to live in extreme poverty, this will
result in lowering the wages overall because people are ready to work at lower
wages, since there is competition for those who are willing to work for less, as a result, all wages will fall. It will make the jobs more dependent and more
insecure because everyone has to compete with people who are so vulnerable
they will put up with unpleasant working conditions in order to survive.
Unemployment will rise as people are agitated out of jobs, non-citizens will be
deprived of access to public healthcare which will result in an increase of
diseases and because of poverty people will suffer from diseases and the spread of
diseases as they are not financially capable to get medication, which will
result in massive social conflict.
Conclusion
By implementation of National Register of
Citizens (NRC) all over India will help the Government to identify them even
those illegal immigrants may or may not be security threat but they certainly
take away the job opportunities & resources from legal Indians and with
rising economy it’s important to have an exact number of citizens and foreign
nationals living in country whether it’s legal or illegal and it will help in
exercising other rights awarded to the citizens, to ensure rapid growth in
economy the government need to eliminate the chances of any such right getting
exploited. Before implementing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) the government must first prepare the policy to handle illegal immigrants who are
staying in the country, dumping in jail is not a solution because
implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) will exclude enormously
number of people and India doesn’t have such logistics and resources to house
such a large number of illegal immigrants. Construction of detention center with
all modern amenities by all states of India should be the first step by the
Indian government.
The Hindu, NRC Assam: UN refugee chief
urges India to ensure no one left stateless, published on September 1, 2019: access on 25 January 2020
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