Citizens' Accountability LedgerWho owned the mess? 25 years, every party, on the record

Case 38 · Public money

Assam NRC. ₹1,600 crore, then disowned

Published 31 Aug 2019, in limbo since

Built, then rejected by its own backers

2,541 days since Recorded outcome: Built, then rejected by its own backers.

Human cost
19,06,657 people left off the final list, their citizenship in limbo for years, disproportionately the poor and minorities
Financial cost Est
~₹1,600 cr and a decade of work by tens of thousands of officials, left unimplemented

What happened

The Supreme-Court-monitored National Register of Citizens in Assam, an exercise the BJP had long campaigned for, cost around ₹1,600 crore and a decade of work by tens of thousands of officials, and on 31 August 2019 excluded 19,06,657 people from the final list.

Claim against record

What the government said

The government says it sought re-verification to ensure a correct, error-free register, and that the whole process was monitored by the Supreme Court.

What the record shows

Built, then rejected by its own backers

Having finally got the register it had demanded, the BJP-led state government and the Centre then refused to accept the result, alleging irregularities and seeking a re-verification, so the ₹1,600 crore exercise sits in limbo, unimplemented to this day. Rejection slips were never properly issued, and 19 lakh people were left in citizenship limbo with no closure. A vast public spend produced an outcome its own sponsors disowned the moment it did not suit them.

What accountability should have looked like

Either stand by a court-monitored result or never launch a divisive, ruinously costly exercise you intend to disown, and give the 19 lakh excluded a fair, funded and time-bound path to be heard.

Ministers and office-holders responsible

Naming who held the portfolio is a matter of public record. It is not by itself a finding of personal responsibility for any death or any rupee.

Sources

T1 primary record · T2 reporting · T3 partisan

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Cite or export this case

Citizens' Accountability Ledger, "Assam NRC. ₹1,600 crore, then disowned" (Published 31 Aug 2019, in limbo since), case-47. https://whoisresponsible.xyz/case/case-47/

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