Assam NRC Coordinator files FIR against predecessor Hajela

• Image Credit: Internet

• May 21, 2022 | Dhupali Das

Sarma claims that the procedure was defective and that the program had flaws that might be exploited.

Digital Desk: The Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) coordinator, Hitesh Dev Sarma, filed an FIR on Thursday against his predecessor Prateek Hajela for allegedly threatening “national security” while supervising the state’s NRC updation process. 

Sarma, who took over as state coordinator after Hajela was transferred to Madhya Pradesh in October 2019 after a Supreme Court ruling, claimed that Hajela “aided entry of names of ineligible persons into the NRC” by skipping “necessary quality checks.”

In his complaint to the Assam Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and forwarded to the Home and Political Department, Sarma stated that Hajela’s conduct could be “considered as not only a dereliction of duty but an act of treason for doing such an activity that is likely to damage national security.

Further, Sarma added that Hajela had directed the use of the software during the ‘family tree’ verification procedure, “which hindered quality check and allowed registration of names of ineligible persons into the NRC.”

To be included in the NRC, a person had to link their ancestry to someone who resided in Assam before 1971. The ‘family tree’ verification method confirmed that people tracing their genealogy to a single person were, in fact, related.

Sarma claims that the procedure was defective and that the program had flaws that might be exploited. A list of data input operators who Sarma said was involved in “fraudulent conduct” during the update was also attached to the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, another allegation against Hajela stated that he placed several persons in the ‘Original Inhabitant’ (OI) category, shielding them from a second round of verification throughout the process. Being classified as an OI was a quick way to get into the NRC, and it was primarily given to persons with Assamese surnames. Sarma claimed that Hajela “wilfully ignored reverification” of numerous names that were not genuinely “OI,” allowing them to be included more easily.

The NRC has remained in uncertainty since its release on August 31, 2019, with numerous groups, including the Assam government, refusing to recognize it as final and advocating for a “revised” NRC. Sarma filed an affidavit in the Gauhati High Court in 2021, describing the August 31 list as a “supplementary” list rather than the “final NRC” and requesting a re-verification.

In 2013, Hajela, an Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS officer from the 1995 batch, was named the exercise’s coordinator.

Since it was released, he has been under the target of those who are angry over the NRC, including the Assam government.   Assam Public Works (APW), the major petitioner in the NRC update process, has filed multiple police complaints against the official, alleging that he tampered with NRC data. Sarma, who is about to retire, has been outspoken about Hajela on several occasions.

While Hajela, who is currently the Principal Secretary of the Madhya Pradesh Department of Social Justice and Disabled Welfare, was not reachable for comment, however, sources close to him stated that such claims were without merit. “The Registrar General of India (RGI) is in charge of the NRC and not the state government. These cannot be pursued without the RGI’s agreement,” the source said.