Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam on Thursday wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging him to take appropriate action to "alleviate the fears of the people" after Assam's NRC data went offline from the official website.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had on Wednesday said the data is safe and there was some technical issue which will be resolved soon. "NRC data is safe, there is some technical issue in visibility on Cloud. It is being resolved soon," the MHA said.
In his letter, Viswam wrote, "Despite the reassurances of your ministry that the data is safe, there is no credible way of knowing the same as the data still remains unavailable. Given the sensitive nature of the data and your government's lack of transparency, these events are deeply worrying."
He added, "It is astonishing that the central government has failed to pay the service provider for such an important exercise that directly affects the fundamental identity of millions of citizens. This indifferent attitude of the government towards the plight of the citizens of India is condemnable and cannot be accepted."
Viswam said that the "loss of this vital data raises numerous questions as to the efficiency of your administration and the politics being played with regard to the entire NRC exercise."
"As a Member of Parliament and concerned citizens, I urge you to look into these matters at the earliest and take appropriate actions to alleviate the fears of the people," he added.
The NRC, which has been developed with the aim of segregating Indian citizens from illegal migrants, was implemented in Assam. The final list of NRC for the state was published in which 19,06,657 persons were excluded including those who did not submit their claims.
After the final list was published on August 31, 2019, the complete detail of exclusion and inclusion of bonafide Indian citizens in the NRC was uploaded on -- 'www.nrcassam.nic.in'.
( With inputs from ANI )