The Meghalaya government on September 10^th, 2019, stated in the state legislative assembly that a total of 223 people have been sent back to Assam so far since the publication of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) list. “They were sent back to their place of origin since they had failed to produce original valid documents,” Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said in a statement.

Sangma also stated that a total of 30 check gates and check points have been installed in different districts to prevent possible infiltration after the final NRC list was published.

This statement was tabled in the Meghalaya Assembly after the Union Home Minister Amit Shah had assured the people of the Northeast on September 9^th, 2019, to make the entire country intruder-free. In the recently held North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convention, Sangma told Amit Shah that the people of the state were under fear of possible infiltration of those excluded from the NRC list.

The final NRC was officially released on August 31^st, 2019 after a six-year-long process. The updation process was started in 2013 after the Supreme Court had promulgated an order. The final list included a total of 3, 11,21, 004 persons and excluded 19,06,657 persons including those who did not submit claims. It may be mentioned that the final draft NRC, which was published in 2018, excluded over 40 lakh people.

Photo: TIME8