Assam NRC dispute continues: Corruption, money laundering charge against officials

By Nava Thakuria*
As one more first information reports (FIR) was lodged against the corruption and money laundering by concerned officials while updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and the petitioner, Gitika Bhattacharya, a Guwahati-based social worker, in her complaint at Dispur police station demanded legal actions against the government officials along with the private parties as well as some individuals, it added more dimensions to the controversy.
The complaint, received on 13 July 2023, also categorically highlighted the matter of exploitation to nearly 8000 contractual workers, who were denied legalised monthly salaries during the process of NRC updation in the north-eastern State of India. It was in fact the fifth FIR, lodged before Assam Police, against the former NRC State coordinator, Prateek Hajela, who was appointed to look after the massive exercise under direct monitoring of the Supreme Court of India engaging 50,000 government employees and a few thousands of contractual data entry operators (DEOs).
The NRC updation process began in 2014 and culminated with the publication of a final draft in 2019, but that is yet to be endorsed by the Registrar General of India. Earlier, alleging corruption by Hajela and also inclusion of a large number of illegal Bangladeshi migrant’s names in the NRC draft, the senior officer’s immediate successor Hitesh Devsarma filed two complaints before the Assam CID on 19 May 2022 and State vigilance & anti-corruption on 13 June 22.
Devsarma was followed by Aabhijeet Sharma (lodging an FIR in Paltan Bazar police station on 14 October 22) and Luit Kumar Barman (filed another complaint in the same police station of Guwahati on 19 Oct 22). But not a single FIR has been registered, even though the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG, the highest audit body of world’s largest democracy) also recommended penal actions against Hajela.
Demanding a complete reverification of the NRC draft and also appropriate actions against all the individuals who were involved in intentional inclusion of illegal people's name in it, the Bharat Raksha Manch (Save India Forum, a non-government organisation) emphasized on a correct NRC for Assam and punishment against the guilty individuals involved in money laundering to the tune of Rs 2600 million.
Submitting a memorandum to Assam Governor at Raj Bhawan, the nationalist forum appealed to him for pursuing the NRC issue with the Union government in New Delhi. Governor Gulab Chand Kataria was also urged by the delegation, led by Suryakanta Kelkar and Dwijendra N Barthakur, to initiate an affidavit to be filed by the State government before the apex court seeking its reverification.
Assam anti-migrants agitation (1979 to 1985) to identify and deport the illegal foreigners culminated with an accord with the federal government (in presence of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi) where influx up to 24 March 1971 was unfortunately resolved to get regularized. But the illegal immigration from the present-day Bangladesh continued and currently the indigenous people of Assam are on the verge of being minority in their homeland.
Patriotic People’s Front Assam, a forum of nationalist citizens, also demanded that the DEOs should be awarded the outstanding amount of money by the concerned authorities. The NRC authority spent a sum of Rs 1600 crore in the four-year long exercise where the system integrator (Wipro Limited) had the responsibility to supply DEOs, but it engaged one sub-contractor (Integrated System and Services) which paid a DEO Rs 5,500 to 9,100 per month (shockingly it’s below the country’s basic minimum wages).
Months back, social media users of Assam named and shamed three city-based television editor-journalists as the beneficiaries of the NRC scam. But they did not respond to the pouring a llegations and almost went to hybernation. These scribes shamelessly praised Hajela as an extraordinary officer and pronounced the draft as best one for the Assamese people.
The latest FIR has mentioned about some other persons (besides Hajela), who might be involved in the scam. Nonetheless, the DEOs must be offered their dues according to the laws irrespective of the fate of NRC for Assam (whether it is accepted, reverified or rejected). Their cumulative dues will be over Rs 1000 million, which is still in somebody’s pockets.
---
*Senior Assam-based journalist

Comments

Academics urge Azim Premji University to drop FIR against Student Reading Circle

By A Representative A group of academics and civil society members has issued an open letter to the leadership of Azim Premji University expressing concern over the filing of a police complaint that led to an FIR against a student-run reading circle following a recent incident of violence on campus. The signatories state that they hold the university in high regard for its commitment to constitutional values, critical inquiry and ethical public engagement, and argue that it is precisely because of this reputation that the present development is troubling.

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

UAPA action against Telangana activist: Criminalising legitimate democratic activity?

By A Representative The National Investigation Agency's Hyderabad branch has issued notices to more than ten individuals in Telangana in connection with FIR No. RC-04/2025. Those served include activists, former student leaders, civil rights advocates, poets, writers, retired schoolteachers, and local leaders associated with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Indian National Congress.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

Aligning too closely with U.S., allies, India’s silence on IRIS Dena raises troubling questions

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The reported sinking of the Iranian ship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka raises troubling questions about international norms and the credibility of the so-called rule-based order. If indeed the vessel was attacked by the American Navy while returning from a joint exercise in Visakhapatnam, it would represent a serious breach of trust and a violation of the principles that govern such cooperative engagements. Warships participating in these exercises are generally not armed for combat; they are meant to symbolize solidarity and friendship. The incident, therefore, is not only shocking but also deeply ironic.

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

India’s foreign policy at crossroads: Cost of silence in the face of aggression

By Venkatesh Narayanan, Sandeep Pandey The widely anticipated yet unprovoked attack on Iran on March 1 by the United States and Israel has drawn sharp criticism from several quarters around the world. Reports indicate that the strikes have resulted in significant civilian casualties, including 165 elementary school girls, 20 female volleyball players, and many other civilians.

Search This Blog