• UGI USER
  • Dec 29, 2022
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What is the CAG audit report on Assam’s NRC?

Why in the News?

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam has recently undergone significant abnormalities, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

What are the CAG’s Concerns?

  • Irregularities in the use of funds: At the time, the project cost was estimated at Rs. 288.18 crores, and the procedure to update the NRC had a February 2015 completion target.
  • But by March 2022, the price had multiplied fivefold as a result of longer completion times and updated software.
  • Regarding anomalies, the CAG discovered that the pay given to the outsourced workers were 45.59%–64.27% less than what the NRC coordination committee had authorised.
  • Lack of Highly Secure and Stable Software: For the NRC upgrade process, it was necessary to construct a highly secure and reliable software. However, there was a lack of good planning in this area, as seen by the haphazard addition of 215 software utilities to the core software.

CAG Recommendations:

  • The highest ranking auditor in the nation demanded that Wipro Limited be punished for disobeying the requirements of the Minimum Wages Act of 1948 and paying data operators less than the legal minimum wage.
  • The NRC Directorate gave one of the top software installation firms to the information technology company Wipro Limited.
  • The report also suggested that the State Coordinator of National Registration (SCNR) be penalised for making “excess, irregular, and inadmissible payments.”
  • The CAG also suggested that the SCNR, as the major employer, be held accountable for “not guaranteeing compliance with the Minimum Wage Act.”

About NRC Exercise:

  • To identify people born in India and immigrants from the former East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, an NRC was initially developed in Assam in 1951.
  • The Supreme Court instructed the Center and State to start a project in Assam to update the 1951 register in 2013.
  • The decision was made in response to a petition submitted by the NGO Assam Public Works.
  • In 2018, the initial draught was made public.
  • Those who could demonstrate their Indian citizenship by being inhabitants of or descended from those who were in Assam prior to March 25, 1971 were included on the final list, which was published in 2019. (the cut-off date for deportation of foreigners as per the Assam Accord of August 1985).
  • Out of 3.3 crore candidates, 19.06 lakh were rejected because they lacked the necessary documentation to verify their citizenship. The final list was rejected by several parties as “faulty.”
  • Three years later, the process has been put on hold because the final list has not yet been announced by the Registrar General of India (RGI).