In a surprise move on Friday, the Supreme Court ordered the transfer of Prateek Hajela, IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, who was the NRC coordinator for the state of Assam. As the NRC coordinator of the state, Hajela spearheaded the entire NRC exercise, the final list of which was published on 31st August this year. The National Register of Citizens was an exercise aimed at segregating genuine Indian citizens from illegal migrants, particularly from Bangladesh.
The exercise was appreciated by most Indians optimistically, until the first draft list was released. It can be said that the exercise has been receiving flak from all quarters ever since, and the one man to be questioned for the implementation of it is Prateek Hajela. Since the entire NRC exercise was a Supreme Court monitored one, Hajela was answerable to nobody but the apex court. Now, this sudden transfer of Prateek Hajela to Madhya Pradesh for the maximum permissible deputation period is bound to raise the eyebrows of many. In addition to this, the Supreme Court has stated no specific reason for the transfer. The only comment it had to make to a query was: “No order will be without a reason”. This has further led to speculations as to why such a transfer was made necessary, even as the entire NRC process is yet to be completed.
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The Assam BJP, meanwhile, is reigning fire on the bureaucrat for the shoddy implementation of a well-intentioned process. The most vociferous proponents of NRC are not at all satisfied with the outcome of the process. Being from the northeast myself, I was taken aback by the number of people who had been excluded from the NRC final list. 19 lakh illegal settlers in Assam, anyone from this region would tell you, is the most conservative figure anybody would have thought of. This has one direct implication: vast numbers of illegal settlers have somehow made it to the list, while genuine Indian citizens have been left out.
Prateek Hajela somehow has no sympathisers in the state of Assam. The BJP, Congress and all other stakeholders have made their dissatisfaction known from time to time. The shoddy and inefficient implementation of the game-changing exercise has resulted in many individuals from within one family being included as well as excluded from the final list. For example, the parents of a child are included, but the child itself is not; or, the grandparents and grandchildren are included, while the parents have been excluded. It is not that we were not aware of these flaws in the final draft, but we expected a rectification in the final list. This much needed rectification, however, seems to not have been paid attention to. One can only imagine the struggles genuine Indians who have been excluded from the list would be going through.
Coming back to the BJP, it is irked like never before. The final list is not even close to what they expected. Assam BJP unit chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass said, “Had he done good work, why would he be transferred? We got nothing from this NRC and names of genuine Indian citizens were axed. I am not sure if Hajela will come back to Assam. If required the Assam government must file an affidavit in the Supreme Court that Hajela must not be released unless he gives the accounts of money.” Further, BJP’s Hojai MLA, Shiladitya Dev told The Economic Times, “He has sought transfer to Madhya Pradesh. However, we will get him for his wrongdoing, no matter whether he is in Madhya Pradesh or in America.” The BJP is now demanding accounts and utilisation certificate from Hajela for the Rs. 1600 crore which was spent on the entire exercise of NRC.
Adding to the BJP’s woes, the state government had demanded 20% sample re-verification, specifically in the border districts. The Supreme Court however, rejected this demand after Hajela stated that 27% re-verification was already completed.
With the transfer of Prateek Hajela out of the state, before the process has seen its completion, the fate of 19 lakh excluded people is left hanging in the balance. The Supreme Court has not decided upon a new or acting NRC coordinator, and neither has it given anyone the power to appoint a new in-charge. None of the 19 lakh people have yet received their rejection certificate, a document which is mandatory to be held before filing appeals in the Foreigners Tribunal against the exclusion. The individuals have only 120 days to appeal before the tribunal before the deportation process will be initiated, and the absence of the coordinator makes things all the more complicated in the state of Assam.
