The government has decided to constitute a high-level committee to chalk out plans on undocumented people after the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is published in Assam, officials said.

The decision to set up the committee, comprising representatives from the Centre and Assam government, was taken at a meeting convened by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday, which was attended by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal among others.

Course of action

“The high-level committee will see what to do with those people who will be left out from the final list of the NRC,” a senior official who attended the meeting told media on Wednesday.

As of now, six lakh people, out of the total 40 lakh, who were excluded in the draft NRC, have submitted applications for inclusion of their names in the list of Assam’s citizens and have given relevant documents claiming they are Indian citizens.

The proposed committee will examine all available options for the undocumented people in Assam, the official said.

The official, however, refused to disclose whether the government will consider granting them work permit.

With nearly six lakh people submitting the applications for inclusion in the final NRC, it means 34 lakh people have not yet come forward to claim that they are Indians, probably they may not have proper documents, another official said.

Following a directive by the Supreme Court, the process of filing claims and objections to the draft NRC began on September 25 and it will come to an end on December 15.

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