Didi sounds NRC alert in N Bengal

TNN | Siliguri: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday asked the Alipurduar district administration to remain alert about developments in neighbouring Assam, where the final draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) is scheduled to be published by month-end. She urged it to keep an eye out for a possible push-back of people from the northeastern state.

The CM asked block development officers to immediately inform the district magistrate and the superintendent of police if infiltration from Assam was brought to their notice. “There are ongoing problems in Assam. There could be a possible push-back from there,” Banerjee said, addressing an administrative review meeting.

The NRC of 1951 is being updated in Assam under the Supreme Court’s supervision to identify the state’s original residents and check illegal migration.

Following the first NRC draft’s publication on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1, Banerjee had accused the BJP-led Centre of hatching a conspiracy to drive out Bengalis from Assam by excluding their names from the document. She had also cautioned the Centre on the issue, saying it should not “play with fire”.

Referring to the arrests of a Chinese national and a Nepali citizen for trying to use fake identity cards in Jalpaiguri district last month, the CM, who had opposed making Aadhaar cards mandatory, said: “People are manufacturing Aadhaar cards and trying to stay here. I do not understand how these people are entering West Bengal. Police must keep an eye on this and not let others get into the state.”