Assam NRC data goes offline; nothing to worry, say officials

Officials in Assam have reassured that data concerning to the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam going offline is a temporary thing and the issue will be resolved in a few days.

The data, which contains information on applicants included and missing from the list released in August last year, went missing after NRC officials failed to renew contract with Wipro, the IT firm responsible for cloud storage of the data.

The official said the lapse happened after previous NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela, who was transferred from the post to Madhya Pradesh following a Supreme Court directive, failed to renew the contract.

Hajela left Assam in November and the new state coordinator Hitesh Dev Sarma took charge in December after the data had already gone offline.

Data on details included in the NRC final list, which excluded 19 lakh applicants, was released online on September last year following a Supreme Court order. With the data going offline, applicants are unable to view their details or download the lists which includes their names.

Meanwhile, Opposition Congress said it suspects the issue could be the result of some malafide act and asked NRC officials to look into the “suspicious development”. The appeal process for those excluded from the NRC list is yet to begin as various petitions alleging anomalies in the inclusion and exclusion of names are pending in Supreme Court seeking re-evaluation