National Register of Citizen

NRC is a register containing the names of all Indian citizens, intended to be a comprehensive list of the legal residents of India. The NRC was first implemented in the Indian state of Assam following the Assam Accord signed in 1985, which aimed to identify and deport illegal immigrants, particularly from neighboring Bangladesh.

The NRC process in Assam was initiated to address long-standing concerns about illegal immigration in the state. The final NRC list for Assam, published in August 2019, excluded nearly 1.9 million people, raising concerns about their citizenship status. Those excluded were required to prove their citizenship through legal processes.

The NRC has been a subject of significant political and social debate across India. The government's announcement of plans to implement a nationwide NRC sparked widespread protests and fears of discrimination, particularly among Muslim communities. Critics argued that the NRC could lead to large-scale disenfranchisement and human rights violations, while supporters claimed it was necessary to secure India's borders and national identity.

The NRC controversy is closely linked with the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed in December 2019, which provides a path to citizenship for non-Muslim refugees from neighboring countries but does not extend the same to Muslim immigrants. This combination of NRC and CAA has led to fears of large-scale statelessness and discrimination.

Despite the government's initial intentions, the nationwide implementation of the NRC has been stalled, and there has been no concrete timeline provided for its rollout. The NRC remains a contentious issue in Indian politics and has implications for citizenship, civil rights, and the communal harmony of the country.

In October 2020, BOOM investigated social media claims that bank accounts in three Indian states were being deactivated for not having the National Register of Citizens (NRC). These posts urged people to withdraw their money, spreading fear and misinformation.

BOOM found that these claims were entirely false, and there was no directive or policy linking the deactivation of bank accounts to the NRC.