india

Updated: Sep 03, 2019 07:46 IST

The Union home ministry on Monday reiterated that the people excluded from the National Register for Citizens (NRC) would not be detained and would continue to pursue their education, employment and retain their properties.

Nearly two million people were excluded from the final NRC that was released on Saturday in Assam

In a statement, the ministry said the Assam government has made arrangements to provide legal aid to the needy among those excluded from the NRC through district legal services authorities.

“Persons left out of final NRC will not to be detained under any circumstance till they exhaust all remedies available under the law,” it said.

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, too, has said that the exclusion of someone from the NRC does not amount to the person automatically becoming a foreigner. A foreigners’ tribunal alone can take such a decision after following the proper legal process, he added.

Union home minister Amit Shah will separately travel to Guwahati next week for a two-day visit from September 8 to attend a North Eastern Council (NEC) meeting and to review the situation in Assam separately.

The visit would be his first visit to Assam as home minister.

The NEC is the apex advisory body responsible for ensuring balanced and coordinated development and effective coordination among the region’s states.

Chief ministers and governors of eight northeastern states will attend the NEC meeting. “The home minister is also likely to have a separate meeting with CM Sarbananda Sonowal and top functionaries of the Assam government and the state BJP leadership to review the situation,” said an official.

Shah will review the security situation and developmental issues at his meeting with the NEC plenary.