Guwahati: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has detected massive financial anomalies involving hundreds of crores in Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) updation. The national audit body also recommended action against the former State NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela and the system integrator (Ms Wipro Limited).
The latest CAG report ending on March 31, 2020, which was submitted to Assam State Legislative Assembly on December 24, 2022, stated that due to a lack of proper planning, as many as 215 software utilities were added in a haphazard manner to the core software. Asserting that highly secure and reliable software was necessary for the exercise, but it added no due process like the selection of vendors following a national tender was followed.
Pointing out that the intended objective of preparing a valid and error-free NRC was not met despite the direct expenditure of Rs 1,579 crore and the manpower cost of deployment of around 50,000 Government employees for over four years. The entire NRC project was done under the supervision and guidance of the Supreme Court of India, where the Assam Government was asked only to provide logistic support.
The CAG report recommended penal measures against the then State NRC coordinator and the system integrator for violating the country’s minimum wages act while paying monthly salaries to nearly 6000 part-time data entry operators. The wage difference allowed an undue benefit of Rs 155 crore to the system integrator and the labor contractor.
Prateek Hajela
Former NRC coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma, before his retirement, filed an FIR with the State Government’s vigilance and anti-corruption wing alleging massive corruption in the exercise during Prateek Hajela’s tenure. Hajela was later transferred to his home State of Madhya Pradesh. Hajela is also facing many FIRs from different organisations demanding a thorough probe against him as the State NRC coordinator
The NRC updation was started in December 2014 with an initial project cost of Rs 288.18 crore and was supposed to be completed within 14 months (by February 2015). But the timeline for the project went on lingering, and the final draft was published in August 2019 only. Because of the time overrun, the project cost escalated up to Rs 1602.66 crore. Though claimed by Hajela as the draft NRC was a final one, it is yet to be endorsed by the RGI.
The final draft of the citizens’ list excluded 19 lakh people as they could not provide valid documents supporting their permanent stay in Assam prior to March 25, 1971 (unlike other parts of India, Assam has a different cut-off date for claiming citizenship following the historic Assam Accord signed in 1985 after a six-year-long agitation. Mentionable is that former NRC coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma, before his retirement, filed a first information report (FIR) with the State Government’s vigilance and anti-corruption wing alleging massive corruption in the exercise during Prateek Hajela’s tenure. Hajela was later transferred to his home State of Madhya Pradesh). Hajela is also facing many FIRs from different organisations demanding a thorough probe against him as the State NRC coordinator.
The process of updating NRC was initialised to remove illegally residing immigrants in the State. The draft list was published in July 2018, which excluded 19.06 lakh out of 3.30 crore applicants due to the lack of proper documents to establish their Indian citizenship.
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