BJP’s vision document for Assam promises corrected NRC
The updated NRC for the detection of undocumented foreigners was released in August 2019 as per the Supreme Court’s directives. It excluded 1.9 million of the nearly 33 million people, who applied. The BJP has rejected the NRC as “faulty” saying genuine citizens got left out
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday promised to make efforts to correct the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to protect genuine citizens and detect illegal infiltrators to ensure the protection of poll-bound Assam’s civilisation. The pledge is part of the 10 commitments made in BJP’s vision document for the assembly elections.
The updated NRC for the detection of undocumented foreigners was released in August 2019 as per the Supreme Court’s directives. It excluded 1.9 million of the nearly 33 million people, who applied for inclusion in NRC. The BJP has rejected the NRC as “faulty” saying genuine citizens got left out while foreigners got included. The NRC is yet to be notified.
The document comes days after the release of Congress’s manifesto, which includes five guarantees such as ₹2,000 monthly to housewives, 200 units of free electricity to all households, an increase in daily wages of tea garden workers to ₹365, and the creation of 500,000 government jobs. The Congress has said that if voted to power, it will not implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed in 2019 to fast-track the citizenship process for non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
The CAA triggered protests in Assam amid fears that it could dilute the 1985 Assam Accord and lead to a fresh influx of Bangladeshi Hindus. The accord provided for the deportation of all refugees and migrants, who have entered Assam after March 25, 1971. The CAA extends the deadline until December 31, 2014.
The BJP has promised to implement CAA in poll-bound West Bengal but has not included the issue in its commitments to Assam’s voters.
For complete coverage of Assam assembly election, click here
“CAA has been passed by parliament and it will be implemented. I should not question Congress’s ideology or intellect, but how can central legislation passed by Parliament get changed by state legislation? Either Congress leaders are ignorant about it or they are cheating people of Assam and both are detrimental to the state,” said BJP chief Jagat Prakash Nadda, who released the document, when asked about CAA.
Nadda said the process to implement Assam Accord’s Clause 6, which assures safeguards in jobs and representation for the Assamese people, is on. He added the BJP is committed to it.
Assam goes to polls in three phases on March 27, April 1, and April 6.
The BJP has also committed to speeding up the delimitation process in Assam to protect the political rights of the Assamese people. The process, which includes fixing or redrawing of boundaries of parliamentary and legislative constituencies, has been stalled in Assam as per a Centre’s directive.
The BJP has promised to make Assam self-reliant in food production. “We commit to make Assam the fastest job-creating state in the country. Our government will create 200,000 government jobs in the next five years and the first 100,000 would be provided till March 31, 2022. We will also create 800,000 jobs in the private sector,” said Nadda.
BJP has committed to creating 200,000 entrepreneurs annually and one million of them in the next five years by giving them technical support and funds as part of the Swami Vivekananda Youth Empowerment Yojana. Under the scheme, ₹50,000 as seed money has been given to nearly 150,000 youths.
Nadda said the BJP will give land rights to all landless people in Assam. The government has launched a similar scheme under which over 300,000 landless have been given land allotment certificates so far.
Also Read | ‘Sonowal is Dhritarashtra, Himanta is Shakuni’: Priyanka in dig at Assam BJP
“Assam was full of problems five years ago, but our government has been able to address some of them by providing inclusive development. We have gained momentum and are now ready to take a big leap in the coming years. Besides, the 10 commitments, we will work on improving connectivity, health, education, women empowerment, etc, and take Assam to newer heights,” said Nadda.
The BJP has also promised Mission Brahmaputra to control floods that hit Assam annually. “It will include scientific ways like dredging, management of tributaries, and construction of big reservoirs to divert the extra water,” said Nadda.
The BJP’s document pledges to cover three million families under the Orunudoi scheme under which ₹830 is given monthly to women from the marginalised families. The scheme was launched last year and covers around 1.7 million families. Nadda said payment under the scheme will be increased to ₹3,000.
The party has assured protection of Assam’s culture and identity by committing to remove illegal encroachers from all neo-Vaishnavite monasteries and prayer houses, or naamghars, and to give ₹2.5 lakh to each to them. The state has nearly 70,000 naamghars. As part of the Asom Darshan Scheme, the state government has given ₹2.5 lakh each to over 8,500 naamghars.
“As part of Mission Shishu Unnayan, we will aim to provide quality education to children. This commitment includes free education in all government schools and free bicycles to all girl students from Class 8 and above,” said Nadda.
Congress leader Bobbeeta Sharma said the BJP failed miserably in giving Assam a foolproof NRC even while it had governments both at the Centre and in the state. “Yet they could not give a proper NRC to the people. Their sincerity in solving the illegal migrants’ issue is questionable. If they could not do it in the last five years, what’s the guarantee that they will be able to do it in the next five years?”
Akhil Ranjan Dutta, a political science professor at Gauhati University, said the BJP’s 2016 manifesto included substantive issues like doubling of farm output and implementation of Assam Accord in letter and spirit. “Subsequently, when the party was in power, it shifted to launching many [welfare] schemes.” He added the BJP has now switched to the “clash of civilisations” and ways to protect Assam’s culture. “Perhaps, the party is not confident that it will win the election with its work. That is why they are trying to polarise voters as a key strategy.” Dutta said the BJP is also now silent on issues like providing scheduled tribe status to six communities that it promised in 2016.
