No coercive action will be taken against anyone: Rajnath Singh in Rajya Sabha over NRC

On the immense debate over Assam National Register of Citizen (NRC) list that excludes 40 lakh people from Assam, Home Minister Rajnath Singh today restated the government’s assurance that no coercive action will be taken against anyone.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha on Friday, he said that July 30 Assam National Register of Citizen (NRC) was not the final draft and those not included in the final list would be able to appeal to the foreigners’ tribunal.

“After getting the final list, everyone will get a chance to apply for citizenship. They will have all rights, nothing will be taken away from them,” said the minister.

The NRC was prepared under the guidelines of Supreme Court and it is being updated continually.

He also said, Assam NRC draft, which has triggered a huge discussion across the country, is completely transparent and entire purpose behind the NRC is to identify infiltrators.

He also added that NRC’s procedure was started in the year 1985 through the Assam Accord when Late Rajiv Gandhi was the PM and another decision was taken by Dr Manmohan Singh in 2005.

The NRC was released on Monday. The government has cleared that the list is a draft, and no coercive action will be taken against anyone whose names were not on it. People would get a chance to apply for citizenship.