The release of the much-awaited complete draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) today was keenly followed by the people of Assam, who chose to check their names on the list online, instead of flocking to the NRC seva kendras (NSKs).
The heavy monsoon rains in many places and the unprecedented security arrangements across the state deterred the people from going to the NSKs. They used the SMS service or checked the NRC website to look for their names. How to check it online?
"It was a completely peaceful day for Assam with a normal situation prevailing across the state," Director General of Police (DGP) Kuladhar Saikia told PTI.
"People have taken the NRC in a normal way. Even if somebody does not find his name, he is not worried as he knows that there is a process for claims and objection. There is no big rush at the NSKs," he said.
NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela too told PTI that there was very less crowd at the NSKs and most people were checking their names online.
"Despite the huge traffic, our online system is working fine...This is a huge exercise and we can term it the biggest result ever declared in India, even bigger than the CBSE or IIT results," he said.
Businessman Abhisekh Gogoi, whose name featured in the list, along with that of his wife and two children, albeit with incorrect spellings, said he saw no reason to go to an NSK.
"There was wide publicity by the NRC authorities on the five ways of checking our names and so, I and my family members did not see any reason to go to an NSK," he said.
State BJP vice-president Bimal Oswal, a resident of Dhubri district, too checked his and his family members' names online. He found his uncle Amarchand Oswal's name missing from the list.
Mostly women flocked to the NSKs in Dhubri and many found their names missing from the list. "The names of women from other states like West Bengal and Bihar, who are married to people from the district, are missing," Omprakash Todi, a prominent citizen of Dhubri, said.
"There was so much talk about possible disturbance and the security was also beefed up to tackle any untoward incident. I felt scared to go out and check my name at the NSK," Shristi Goswami of Nagaon said.
Rains played spoilsport in the upper Assam districts of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sibsagar and Jorhat.
"It is raining heavily in Dibrugarh and there is waterlogging in many areas. So I decided not to go to the NSKs. When the online option is available, people should check it there," academician Bonita Gogoi said.
Several applicants found anomalies in their names in the draft NRC.
Academician Smita Lahkar pointed out that her mother's name was missing in the first draft, it was included in the complete draft released today, but misspelt.
"The NRC is a historic database. Can't they prepare it without spelling errors?" she asked.
Medical student Swagata Barua's surname was entered in the first draft as Saikia and despite seeking correction online, there was no change in the complete draft.
Many like bureaucrat Sanjiv Boruah said there was no hurry to check the names as there was enough time to file claims and objections.
There are five ways to check the names of people in the NRC.
The printed version of the document is available at the NSKs with photographs of the applicants and other details like their parents' names, permanent and present addresses, date of birth as well as the name of their "birth states".
There is also a provision to check it online. For this, one needs to click on any of these links -- www.nrcassam.nic.in, www.assam.mygov.in, www.assam.gov.in, www.homeandpolitical.assam.gov.in.
There is also a provision for automatic receipt of text messages through pre-registration about the status of inclusion of a person's name in the complete draft of the NRC after 12 noon by sending an SMS to 7899405444 or 7026321133 or 7026861122 or 9765556555.
The other two ways are an on-demand SMS service from 12 noon today and by making calls to the 24x7 toll-free helplines -- 15107 and 18003453762.
