Missing NRC Data "Safe" Says Home Ministry, Cites Technical Glitch

Shillong, February 12, 2020:

The Union Home Ministry has stated that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) data that went "missing", is safe and cited a "technical glitch" as the reason why it is not showing.

ALSO READ: Are all Original Inhabitants of Assam “Indigenous”?

The Union Home Ministry said the NRC data is safe and cited "some technical issue in visibility on cloud". The ministry said the problem is "being resolved soon" and the pages will once again be visible within 2-3 days.

NRC state co-ordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma, talking to mediapersons, said, "The cloud service for the huge set of data was provided by Wipro and their contract was till October 19 last year. However, this was not renewed by the earlier co-coordinator (Prateek Hajela). So, the data got offline from December 15 after it was suspended by Wipro. I assumed charge on December 24."

ALSO READ: Assam: Dima Hasao Bandh withdrawn after Govt Invites Agitators for Talks

It may be mentioned here that the final NRC list is yet to be officially notified by the Registrar General of India. Writing to the Registrar General, Debabrata Saikia, the leader of the Opposition, said that it is a mystery as to why the online data should vanish all of a sudden, especially as the appeals process has not even started due to the go-slow attitude adopted by the NRC Authority.

It may be mentioned here that the final NRC list left over 19 lakh people "stateless" after the final NRC list, however, the appeals procedure has not begun yet.

Meanwhile, the centre has said people whose names didn't appear in the NRC cannot be declared foreigners till all legal options are exhausted. People whose names did not appear now have to visit the Foreigners' Tribunals

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.