Union home minister Rajnath Singh.

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday said the Citizenship Amendment Bill , which provides for grant of Indian citizenship to minorities from neighbouring countries on humanitarian grounds, would be finalised and placed before Parliament only after thorough consultation with all stakeholders and addressing concerns raised by the people of Assam over its provisions.

The assurance to this effect was given by Union home minister Rajnath Singh to Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal during a meeting to review administrative and security arrangements related to updating of National Register of Citizens (NRC). The final draft of NRC is due for publication on June 30 this year.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Sonowal said there should be no apprehension in the minds of the people of Assam about the Citizenship Amendment Bill. “The home minister has assured that before taking any steps the concerns of the people of Assam will be taken care of,” he said.

The Citizenship Bill has run into trouble in Assam with certain sections opposing it for being discriminatory on grounds of religion and BJP ally Asom Gana Parishad complaining that it would violate Assam Accord by seeking to confer citizenship on illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Central government sources however told TOI that consultation on Citizenship Amendment Bill was still on and could be a long-drawn process. “Once JPC finalises its report, the Centre will study it and decide on recommendations to be accepted. The Bill may be accordingly reworked and placed in Parliament which will again discuss it and decide on its passage. This is a lengthy process. However, it seems the Citizenship Amendment Bill has currently come into limelight with the visit of JPC to the north-east. Since the JPC visit came a month before the final NRC draft is to be published, some vested interests have cleverly linked the Citizenship Amendment Bill issue with it to create tension and raise protests,” said an officer.

Keen to delink the NRC updation exercise from the Citizenship Amendment Bill, the home ministry has decided to focus on the former for now and work with the state government to avert any security or law and order problems coinciding with publication of draft on June 30. It is being emphasised that the NRC will only be a draft, leaving the window open for claims and objections to be filed by those left out.

At the meeting on Wednesday, the Centre and Assam government agreed that adequate opportunity must be given to people to file claims and objections to the final NRC draft and also their proper disposal as per the law. A campaign should also be launched to educate people on the process of filing the claims and objections, it was emphasised.

Sonowal requested the home minister to set up a committee to make recommendations for implementation of Clause 6 of Assam Accord that guarantees Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social and linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people. Home minister assured the chief minister that the committee would be set up at the earliest in consultation with the state government.

