NRC head files complaint against predecessor for data 'anomalies'
Guwahati(PTI): Assam coordinator of National Register of Citizens (NRC) Hitesh Dev Sarma has lodged a complaint with the CID against his predecessor, Prateek Hajela, and others accusing them of committing anti-national and criminal activities while updating the register.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is, however, yet to register an FIR against those being accused who included several officers and data entry operators associated with the process, a senior police official said on Friday.
The NRC, an official record of bonafide Indian citizens living in Assam, was updated under the supervision of the Supreme Court and released on August 31, 2019, leaving out more than 19 lakh applicants. However, it has not been notified by the Registrar General of India.
Hajela, a 1995 batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, had been appointed by the apex court as the NRC state coordinator in 2013. He was released from the charge on November 12, 2019, and the court ordered his transfer from Assam to his home state Madhya Pradesh.
We have received a petition from the NRC office. Due procedure has to be maintained before the CID registers any case. We are pursuing the petition, the official told PTI on condition of anonymity.
In his complaint, a copy of which is available with PTI, Sarma has alleged anomalies in Family Tree Verification and other document verification processes during updating of the NRC.
Family Trees were drawn to establish legacy data accurately during the updating process of the citizenship document. Sarma has alleged that no order for quality check during the Family Tree Matching phase was issued by Hajela.
The software used in the process also had no scope for quality checks, thus giving the verifying officers of doubtful integrity a free hand to upload wrong results to fulfil their vested interests , the complaint stated.
Prateek Hajela might have intentionally avoided the mandatory quality checks by ordering the use of such a software and facilitated entry of names of ineligible persons into the NRC which can be seen as an anti-national act affecting national security , according to the complaint.
Sarma said that to evaluate the precise effects of the absence of quality checks in the Family Tree Matching phase, some sample checks were made under three NRC Seva Kendras (NSKs) two in Barpeta district and one in Darrang district.
Out of 39,29,703 numbers of Legacy Data Code used in the state, 2,346 were verified in these three NSKs. Of these, 975 names were found to be erroneously entered into NRC through Family Tree Match , the incumbent NRC state coordinator claimed.
Anomalies were also found in several other stages of the updating process, Sarma claimed and sought registration of a case against Hajela and others on charges of cheating, forgery and other offences.
Complaints against Hajela on such issues were raised earlier by others also. Several petitions are still pending before the Supreme Court.
The Assam Public Works (APW), an NGO whose petition in the Supreme Court led to the updation of the National Register of Citizens, filed a similar complaint in June last year against Hajela with the CID of the state bordering Bangladesh.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma after assuming office on May 10, 2021, had said that his government wants re-verification of 20 per cent of names in the NRC for the border districts of Assam, while it should be done for 10 per cent of names in the rest.
The first NRC was compiled in Assam in 1951 based on the Census report but it was not updated for a long time. The APW in 2009 filed a case in the Supreme Court praying for deletion of foreigners' names in electoral rolls and updation of the NRC.
A pilot project for the process started in two places the next year but it was shelved after four persons were killed in violence in one area.
In 2013, the Supreme Court took up the APW petition, directed the Centre and the state to begin the process of updating the NRC. The State Coordinator's office was also set up. The updation process of the NRC finally began in 2015.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
