Office of the State Coordinator of National Registration (NRC), Assam

DISTRIBUTION AND RECEIPT OF APPLICATION FORM

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION

LET US REVISIT THE MILESTONES ACHIEVED IN THIS JOURNEY SO FAR!

We started the Application Receipt Phase initially with a trial run of NRC Application Receipt Software at Chandrapur 3 NSK, under Chandrapur Circle of Kamrup (Metro). For this purpose limited number of Application Forms was invited. Shri Prabhat Narayan Kalita was the first recipient. Soon after the Application Receipt phase was launched in a full-fledged manner in the month of May, 2015 and the online submission facility was launched on 22nd June 2015. Huge pool of human resource were trained and engaged in this process. During every phase right from 1) Introduction of Project NRC 2) Publication of Legacy Data 3) Distribution & Receipt of Application Forms, the entire strength of TEAM NRC underwent extensive training on making the process easy for the benefit of the public of Assam.

Until 4th September, 2015, 68, 37, 571 Application Forms have been received from across the state. The data is as per the actual population figures as on 2015. Over 1.4 crore people enjoyed the benefit of the Legacy Data Search software thereby receiving the data of their ancestors.

On the successful closure of NRC Application Forms Receipt phase on 31st August, 2015, 68.31 lakh applications covering 107% households* (as per 2011 census) have been received across the state.

Citizen centric service delivery with maximum use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), exhaustive media platforms, one stop grievance redressal solutions have been the highlights of this phase. We bring you the milestones in service delivery we have achieved so far:

LEGACY DATA: LARGEST DATABASE OF OLD RECORDS IN A CLICK OF A MOUSE

Issued at NSKs: 66,02086
Total Downloads through website: 78,67,853
Highest downloads in a single day(on 16th July 2015): 1,77,051
Highest issued at NSKs in a single day(on 27th April 2015): 1,53,745
Hits on Legacy Data website: A whopping 17 crore in just 7 months
250 GB of Legacy Data uploaded in 6,000 laptops in a record 7 days time

NRC APPLICATION FORM : COVERING EVERY HOUSEHOLD OF THE STATE AND DIASPORA

Three platforms designed for public convenience:
Printed form: Total receipt (68,32,305)
Highest NSK receipt in a single day(on 10th August 2015): 1,93,255
Online form: Total online forms received: 3,10,716
Highest submission in a single day(on 23rd July): 1,141

NRC e-Form: A first of its kind combination of online and offline facility was introduced for benefit of the rural public Total e-Form received: 19,403 in 25 days only, since its launch on 6th August 2015.

Click on www.nrcassam.nic.in to know all about what we are doing and how we are doing

Hits recorded: Unprecedented 51,26,300 hits recorded in a span of just 6 months since launch in Feb 2015 Highest hits in a single day (on 23rd June 2015): 1.30 lakh hits.

AN INTEGRTAED ONE STOP GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL SOLUTION

8,494 queries from public have been resolved through the online grievance redressal portal.
A record number of 10,68,378 calls received in NRC Call Centre (15107) in a record period of 7 months.
Number of total operators: 211
Average call time per call to address the queries of the public: 3 minutes. Time per call during peak time: 7 minutes.
Highest calls received in a single day (on 24th June 2015): 27,015
Calls received regarding filling up of forms: 3,21,368

SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS WITH VISUAL TOOLS TO MAKE FORM FILL UP EASY

(1) Know your NSK: Comprehensive search application to identify NSKs.
     a) District/Circle/Village wise search of NSKs.
     b) District/Circle/NSK wise search of villages.
    c) 5 types of search for Kamrup Metropolitan: - As per locality/ward no/polling station/LAC (legislative Assembly Constituencies) and map-wise          search with NSK details along with pictures.
(2) Know your Ward: Map specially designed to locate wards (Old 60) in Guwahati.

STATE-OF-ART DATA CENTRE TO STORE DATA PROVIDED BY APPLICANTS FOR YEARS TO COME

Installation of a in a Box Fluid Solution State Data Centre (DC) of 40 TB storage capacity with 11 blade servers, 3 rack servers, automatic temperature control equipped to process bulk data in microseconds

PUBLICITY PLATFORMS: Mass appeal campaign reaching out to 3 crore people, touching their lives for a noble cause

Print advertisements: Over 1,185 print ads across 33 Regional and English dailies.
Electronic Media: Over 28,428 Television and Radio Commercials along with special screening at 33 movie halls across Assam (17,887 screenings of NRC advertisements).
Fictional family Chandra Sarma: The fictional family of Chandra Sarma created to explain document collection and application form fill up became household names in the state.

PUBLIC AWARENESS MEETINGS: DIRECT COMMUNICATION AT GRASS ROOT LEVEL

8,407 meetings conducted at the level of Gaon Panchayat and ward across the length and breadth of Assam

LEAFLETS: FOR YOUR INFORMATION & EDUCATION

Types of leaflets: Four kinds of detailed informative leaflets for mass distribution
1) Introduction to the process of NRC.
2) Publication of Legacy Data.
3) Document collection & Application Form receipt and fill up.
4) Pictorial booklet on Form fill up using Chandra Sarma family.
Distribution of leaflets: Over 38,00,000

MEDIA REPORTS OUR RESPONSE: TRANSPERENCY IS OUR MOTTO & ERROR FREE NRC IS OUR GOAL

We have started an unprecedented exercise as a Government body. We collect news reports from various news papers and address the queries as and when required.
Total number of media reports addressed: 125 .
Total number of Action Taken Reports uploaded: 63 .

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY: EXTENSIVE USE OF NEW MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES

Website, SMS, Whatsapp, e-mail blast, YouTube skip ads, Search Engine Optimization, Facebook, Twitter, Google Ads, Wikipedia.

DEPLOYMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCE (HR)

Huge pool of HR engaged and trained in a record span of 6 months. Over 1200 contractual manpower engaged, over 7000 manpower outsourced and over 40,000 govt. employees were engaged in the process of NRC Updation.

*As per 2011 Census there are 64,06,471 households in Assam. As it has increased over these years we have more than 64,06,471lakh households in Assam as on 2015. Hence, 107% coverage.

Interactive seminar on 25th Jan 2017 – ROLE OF CITIZENS IN UPDATION OF NRC

On 31st August 2015, when the phase of Application Form submission came to successful closure, we got an overwhelming response in the form of 68 lakh application forms submitted by every household of Assam, in just 3 months from the commencement of the Application receipt phase in June 2015. The public of Assam participated in each phase of the process with full strength. Right from attending community level meetings (2735 held in a span of 8 months across all districts of Assam), taking part in the community workshops to capacity building sessions on how to search for their Legacy Data, collection of documents, correct filling up of Application, to their role during Field Verification visits house to house by the Verification Teams, the public of the state have wholeheartedly given their support and cooperated in each activity organised for their benefit.

The process of verification, which commenced immediately after the closure of the Application Receipt has made substantial progress. And time and again the public has been kept informed on all the developments that is currently underway across the state by various posts and pictures that has been shared on the NRC Assam’s official social media platforms.

We further aim to strengthen our bond with the public and empower them by urging each and every member of the public to actively take the onus of taking forward the journey of preparing an error free NRC for the state of Assam to a logical and successful conclusion. Going ahead with the motto, an interactive seminar shall be heldin every district of the state. The topic of the seminar is “Role of citizens in updation of NRC”. On the eve of Republic Day, on 25th January 2017,we invite all sections of the society, the youth, entrepreneurs, students, senior citizens, teachers and prominent personalities among others, to come forward and make this seminar a huge success.The sole objectiveis to engage the public and make them take onus of their responsibilities for the purpose of making NRC update a success story that shall benefit generations to come in the days ahead.

With the formal closure of the Application Receipt phase on 31st August, 2015, the Verification Process has started all over Assam from 1st September, 2015. Verification is the most crucial phase of NRC Updation as correct verification will only ensure an error free NRC. The main aim of the Verification Process is to ensure that no ineligible person gets entry and that no genuine person gets left out. During this phase, 68.33 lakh Application forms and approximately five (5) crore supporting documents would be verified.

The process of verification is conducted in two (2) parts:
(1) Office Verification and (2) Field Verification

The details of this complicated processes is briefed for the understanding of public here under:

1. Office Verification: Usually authentication of any document is done through matching the photocopy submitted by applicants with originals, like it is done during university admission or job recruitment. But for creation of an error free NRC, this method of verification is not sufficient. Authentication here is to be fool proof. Therefore, each of about 5 crore documents submitted shall be sent to the issuing authority to ascertain:

• Whether the document was actually issued by that authority or not and,
• Whether the particulars of the document submitted by applicant matches with the particular recorded in the original document of the issuing authority.

OFFICE VERIFICATION WILL IDENTIFY AND ELIMINATE FAKE/FORGED DOCUMENTS.

2. Field Verification: During Field Verification the Verification Teams (VTs) in each district will go house to house to:-

• Check identity proof and match photo of applicant
• Compare submitted documents with originals
• Establish if documents submitted related to the person
• Verify relationship claimed through List-B document
• In case of absence of List-B document, relationship to be ascertained by Verification Team through quasi-judicial process
• Determine correct particulars in case of aliases/erroneous names in Legacy Data
• Make corrections (if required) in the Application Form, collect particulars (if any) of unfilled questions in form
• Collect additional document, if required
• Collect details of family tree (list of family members) to match the detail with those submitted by the various applicants across Assam. Matching the family tree submitted by applicants with the one generated by software on the basis of Forms received will be the most important mechanism to detect false claims.

YOUR ROLE:

Though verification is a statutory duty to be performed by government machinery, without support and active engagement of public, verification, the most crucial phase of NRC updation can’t truly succeed. We appeal the public to:

1. Participate enthusiastically as all did during the Applicant Receipt Phase.

2. Requirement of physical presence at the current address provided by the applicant in Application Form. If the Verification Team is satisfied about the genuineness of the persons mentioned in the application then the physical presence may be exempted by the team for such persons on account of presence outside Assam for treatment, studies, work etc.

3. Some applicants have submitted documents which are legally non-admissible, such as Birth Certificates issued by School Authority etc. In such cases the VT will ask you for alternate documents and/ or evidence. Please provide photocopy of other admissible document.

4. In case you have not submitted necessary documents due to its unavailability during Application submission phase, the same can be submitted to the VT during house to house visits. The signature of an adult family member shall be recorded in the additional document by the VT.

5. There are errors in filling up some questions in the Application Forms, some are also left blank. Cooperate with the Verification Team in correcting and entering such entries. It is preferable that the Head of the Family or any adult member shall sign to authenticate such corrections in the Application Form.

6. Correct your names/aliases: There are a lot of cases where the names recorded in the Legacy Data/ List A documents varies with the name of the person today. The cases may be as follows:-

• Married women: In case of a number of married women, there may be a change of surname.
• Surname adoption: Variance may also be due to a change of surname adopted by the person/ family over a period of time.
• Nicknames or aliases: In a number of cases, nicknames or aliases were recorded in the Legacy Data/ List A document.
• Errors or names wrongly recorded in Legacy Data: In some cases there are errors in names recorded in the Legacy Data / List A document.

In all such cases, identity of the person shall be ascertained by the Verification Team through a quasi-judicial process to their satisfaction and will be referred to the DRCR (Deputy Commissioner) for confirmation.

7) Keep other/additional supporting documents ready, in case required for verification. There are also instances where the documents that have been submitted along with the applications are illegible. The lack of clarity may be due to various reasons such as – not photocopied properly, necessary parts of the document not visible, light print of the texts etc. In such cases, the Verification Teams will approach you to obtain a fresh copy of the said documents, since illegible documents cannot be verified and is likely to be rejected. You are hereby given this opportunity to arrange for fresh photocopies of such documents and to cooperate with the VT teams.

8) Report cases of new born babies or deaths in family that may have occurred after the submission of the Application Form. In all such cases you have to produce documentary evidence.

9) We will ensure that the verification process is hassle free and people friendly. However, for your information, during the field visits, if at any given point of time you find the behavior of any member of the VT inappropriate or encounter any kind of harassment, please report the same immediately to the LRCR officer at your designated NSK or approach the CRCR (Circle Officer), DRCR (Deputy Commissioner). You may also place a call to our toll free helpline number 15107 or log in to our Grievance Redressal Portal. You can also report any instance of use of fraudulent means by any person through our helpline and online portal.

10) Those who missed the visit of Verification Team or are presently out of state, can visit their designated NSK get their claims verified. Those presently residing out of Assam and have applied online can locate their designated NSK through the “Know your NSK” feature in the NRC Website.

11) Manual Family Tree Detail Submisison:

What is a Family Tree?

Family tree is the detail of different generations of your family comprising the names of your ancestors, parents, uncles and aunts, siblings and cousins.

Why should an applicant submit family tree details?

 In order to secure an entry into NRC some unscrupulous persons may claim false linkage from anyone who was a resident of Assam/other part of India before the cut off date of 24th March (midnight), 1971.
 In order to find out such false claims it would be required to cross check all linkage claims made against any legacy person.
 Software has been designed to check all the Application Forms submitted and generate a computerized family tree i.e. the details of all persons who have claimed to be children/grandchildren of the same Legacy Person. To enable false family claim, Family Tree details shall be collected beforehand from the applicants during house to house visits by the verification team. This is called Manual Family Tree Form collection. The computerized Family Tree & Manual Family Tree shall be matched to identify false claims. If it is shown in the software generated report that 6 brothers are claiming linkage from a certain individual, whereas the family has claimed to have 5 sons of the said legacy person then the verification team would be able to detect the name of the so called brother not found in the manual form to be a false claim.
 Having made to declare the family tree details beforehand, unscrupulous elements will not be left with any chance to charge premium from persons claiming false linkage from their legacy.
 Informing NRC authorities about Family Tree beforehand will lessen the burden of your family members to prove linkage during field verification to verifying officials.
 As such, submission of Family Tree would (1) help the verification team identify false claims (2) protect precious legacy data of any family against misuse by illegal migrants to enter NRC and (3) will be a valuable information on linkage for family members to substantiate their claim.

How to provide Family Tree details?

The verification team during house to house visit will be collecting family tree details of the applicants. To save time of both the verifying officials and public during house to house visit, the public may fill up these details beforehand in the Manual Family Tree Form designed by the NRC authorities and distributed house to house. These forms are also available at NSKs, and on the website of NRC Assam – CLICK HERE.

Is it mandatory to fill up the Manual Family Tree Form?

 It is not mandatory for the public to keep the Manual Family Tree Form filled-up beforehand to submit to the verification team, but it will be crucial to provide the same information to the verification team during their house to house visit.
 Under Rule 8 of The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, the verifying officials are empowered to ask any person to furnish any information within his knowledge in connection with the determination of Citizenship status of any person and the person required to furnish information shall be bound to comply with such requisition. As such the public would be required to provide the family tree details to verification teams.

What if the family does not know in detail the names and addresses of all members of the family tree?

Let us find out how our fictitious Chandra Sarma family fills up the Manual Family Tree Form.

In case of this family it is seen in their Form 4 (four) legacies have been used:

1) Head of the household Meera Sarma has used her own legacy detail i.e. passbook of 1966.
2) Chandra Sarma, the Son of Meera Sarma, as well as his son and granddaughter have used the legacy data code of late Janardan Sarma.
3) The married women of the family i.e. Torali Sarma, wife of Chandra Sarma and,
4) Monisa Kalita Sarma, wife of Utpal Sarma used legacies of their own ancestors

As such this family shall be filling up 4(four) Family Tree Forms as given below:

The Manual Family Free Form is made available at the NSKs and can also be downloaded from the website. Click here for the form. To know more about the importance of filling up the Family Tree Form, How to fill it up and a sample of a filled up Family Tree Form, CLICK HERE.

FAMILY TREE VERIFICATION

A unique methodology applied to verify the genuineness of the use of Legacy Data by the applicants which involves matching of all the family tree details submitted by applicants claiming descendants of the same ancestors.

• Family Tree Verification carried out for of 96.97 lakhs applicants
• 9.15 lakhs number of Family Tree Hearings conducted across Assam in around 80 working days, (17th Feb to 6th June 2018)
• Letter of Information (LOIs) were generated centrally through Software wherein all the conflicting descendants spread across NSKs/ Circles/ Districts/ States were asked to appear before an Investigating Officer at a particular Venue, Date, and Time.
• Total no of Letter of Information (LOIs) generated for applicants to appear for Family Tree Verification: 49.42 Lakhs
• Total Number of Investigating Officers involved in the Family Tree Investigation: 6,241

SPECIAL VERIFICATION

Verification undertaken from 2nd April 2018 to 7th July 2018 for GP Secretary/ Lot Mandal/ Circle Officer Certificates issued to a married woman as proof of linkage for applying in NRC.

• Total number of Special Verification conducted across Assam: 27.6 lakhs. 26.08 lakhs members were investigated.
• Total number of Notices generated for applicants spread across the NSKs/ Circles/ Districts/ States to appear for Special Verification at a particular date, venue and time: 27.6 lakhs.
• Total Number of Special Verification Officers involved in the Special Verification Investigation: 4,111 at 1435 venues for Special Verification hearing.

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