Assam Public Works lodge fresh FIR against Wipro Limited, NRC Directorate; alleges misappropriation of funds

Amid the much debated National Register of Citizens (NRC) process in Assam, the Assam Public Works (APW), an organisation which has been fighting against the anomalies in the NRC process and illegal foreigners of Assam, has levelled a fresh allegation against M/s Wipro Limited and the NRC Directorate here in Guwahati.

Notably, the APW has lodged a fresh FIR against M/s Wipro Limited (System Integrator) and the NRC Directorate with regards to misappropriating a huge amount of pubic money in updating of NRC in Assam at the Paltan Bazar Police Station in Guwahati.

In the FIR addressed to the Officer in charge of the Paltan Bazar police station it stated that being the main petitioner, the APW has been closely monitoring the process of updating the NRC in Assam since its initial stage and it has been found that the government of India has already released Rs 1600 crores.

Further, urging for a proper and thorough investigation into the anomalies from M/s Wipro Limited (responsible for software installation) and NRC Directorate by the police, the APW has claimed that a huge corruption has taken place in the said process with the hand-in-glove of NRC Directorate here in Guwahati.

Earlier, according to the audit report, exclusively accessed by India Today NE, Ms Wipro, the system integrator, which was given the task of supplying data entry operators, paid the data entry operators between Rs 5,500 and Rs 9,100 per month through the NRC authorities had released to Wipro Rs 14,500—Rs 17,500 per month to be paid to every data entry operator. 

The operators were even denied the minimum wage as per the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act 1948.

The report also highlighted financial irregularities and anomalies to the tune of Rs 155 crore during the compilation of the updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) between 2015 and 2019. 

The report also indicated that IAS officer Prateek Hajela, the then-state coordinator of the NRC, was allegedly aware of these irregularities.

Also Read: Assam auditor finds financial irregularities worth Rs 155 crore in NRC, raises finger at top official