Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday told parliament that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be implemented nationwide. Shah said in the Rajya Sabha that no person, irrespective of their religion, needed to be afraid of NRC implementation.

"The NRC exercise is monitored by the Supreme Court. No religion has been targeted or isolated during the NRC exercise," said Shah responding to a query of Congress leader Syed Nasir Hussain. The MP asked whether the NRC provides citizenship to immigrants of six non-Muslim faiths.

Shah said NRC and The Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016, which lapsed on June 3, 2019, are two different issues and both should not be seen through one prism.

So far the NRC exercise has been conducted in Assam with the stated aim to identify illegal immigrants mainly from neighbouring Bangladesh. The final NRC list in the northeast state left out over 19 lakh applicants who were deemed to be illegal immigrants.

Shah has said that people whose names are missing from the NRC can approach tribunals formed at the tehsil level. Further, he assured that the Assam government will provide financial help to those who don't have the money to file pleas and the government would bear the cost of hiring a lawyer.

(With Agency Inputs)

First Published:Nov 20, 2019 2:59 PM IST