Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has shared that more than 1.59 lakh people have been declared as ‘foreigners’ in the state so far. He said that another 96,000 have been marked as ‘Doubtful’ (D) voters, reported news agency PTI.
Sarma was responding to a question by opposition AIUDF legislator Aminul Islam in the assembly. In his response, the Assam chief minister said 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals (FTs), which deal with the citizenship issue of D-voters in the state, are currently functional. He said that 1,59,353 people have been declared as foreigners by these tribunals till December 31, 2023.
The Assam CM further informed that the FTs have disposed of 3,37,186 cases till the end of last year and 96,149 cases are pending before various FTs.
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In response to another question from Congress MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed, Sarma said as per data, there are 96,987 D-voters in the state as of date.
What Assam CM said on people without Aadhaar cards due to NRC updating process
On Monday, in response to a question by Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, Sarma informed that discussions with the central government are taking place to grant relief to around 2.7 million residents of the state who are unable to get Aadhaar cards due to locking of their biometrics as part of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) updating process.
“I am in consultation with the Centre on this and hopefully something positive will happen soon. But we can’t go against SC orders. If required, we may have to approach the SC at some time to address the issue,” Sarma said.
