Between October 25 and 30, scanning of additional documents and statements will take place

The window period of 120 days for the 19 lakh people excluded from the final National Register of Citizens or NRC to appeal in the foreigners tribunals might only start in November since authorities would need that much time to get speaking orders ready detailing the cause of every person's exclusion, sources in the NRC have said. It is only after these orders are sent out to the excluded people, can they start filing their petitions at foreigners tribunals, sources added.

In a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) instruction letter issued by state NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela to NRC officials, copy of which is available with NDTV, a deadline of October 30 has been specified to complete the process of speaking order writing as per the final NRC and scanning of all relevant documents that needs to be ready before the speaking order is released.

In the letter, dated September 18, Mr Hajela has stated that since that day, the final NRC details of every circle will be uploaded in the NRC master database through File Transfer Protocol (FTP). A timeline has also been specified.

From September 27, the final NRC database with be matched with the speaking orders. The work of scanning of speaking orders will begin October 11.

Between October 25 and 30, scanning of additional documents and statements will take place.

NRC authorities have also added that the focus will be on quality check on whether proper data are being reflected in the speaking orders or not.

Caution has also been issued that if there is any updation of data or any correction required, it needs to be listed separately for necessary action, NRC sources further added.

The implementation of the citizens' list in Assam - which left out 19 lakh people - has been widely criticised owing to the omissions. Those failing to prove their citizenship before the tribunals will be sent to detention camps, the first of which is being constructed in Assam's Goalpara, about 150 km from Guwahati.