The Central Government is considering a proposal to provide long-term ‘bio metric work permits’ to all those declared as foreigners (read Bangladeshis in Assam) by the Foreigners’ Tribunal in Assam.
A report appearing in the The Asian Age (pressreader) stated that the proposal was under the active consideration of the Union Home Ministry, and those who were stripped of Indian citizenship would no longer have any political rights nor the rights to buy immovable property.
The report also quoted sources as saying that the process of deporting a person declared as Bangladeshi by the Foreigners Tribunal in Assam was a very “time-consuming process and pushing them back through the international border was not feasible as Bangladesh was also a sovereign nation”.
The sources further stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) was considering all the pros and cons of the said proposal and it may be put up for public scrutiny soon. The Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, had already taken up the issue of influx with his Bangladesh counterpart during his recent visit to Dhaka and the sources added that both India and Bangladesh has agreed to tighten vigilance on the border.
The sources further put in that New Delhi was “extremely worried” at the “slow and lethargic process” of deporting foreigners. Over 20,000 people were declared foreigners by the foreigners’ tribunal in Assam and have been kept in various detention centres in the State.
Meanwhile, as Assam counts its citizens, the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is all set to get published on the Supreme Court extended deadline of July 30 next. The NRC final draft was scheduled to get published on June 30 last but the State NRC Coordinator, Prateek Hajela, approached the Supreme Court for an extension as many districts of Assam were reeling under flood thus affecting NRC work. The whole NRC exercise in Assam is being monitored by the Supreme Court of India.