What is the CAG audit report on Assam’s NRC?

What is the CAG audit report on Assam’s NRC?

Subject :Polity

Context: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in its compliance report of “logistical arrangements for NRC update project in Assam” has found several anomalies in the updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.

Concerns highlighted by the CAG

• Cost overrun:
  • When the process to update the NRC was initiated in December 2014 and was to be completed by February 2015, the project cost was estimated to be ₹288.18 crores.
  • However, the CAG report has pointed out a fivefold increase in the cost by March 2022 because of the extended time taken to complete the process.
  • As per the report, the final draft was notified in August 2019 and the project cost had increased to ₹1,602.66 crores.
  • The test check of records has further revealed irregularities in the usage of funds such as excess and inadmissible payments to vendors.
• Payment of wages:
  • The CAG in its report has noted that the wages paid to the outsourced staff were about 45% to 64% less than the amount approved by the NRC coordination committee.
  • Further, this difference in wages was used to extend an undue benefit of ₹155.83 crores to the system integrator beyond the 10% reasonable profit margin.
• Irregularities with the system:
  • The CAG in its report has pointed out that secure and reliable software was needed to facilitate the NRC exercise, but more than 215 software utilities were added to the core software.
  • Further, this was done without abiding by the due process of software development and vendor selection through the means of tendering.
  • Wipro Limited was one of the prime software installation companies for NRC.

NRC exercise

• The National Register of Citizens (NRC) was first created in Assam in 1957.
• NRC was created with the aim to identify individuals born in India and migrants from Bangladesh (former East Pakistan).
• In 2013, the Supreme Court directed the Union and the State Governments to undertake an exercise to update the 1951 register in Assam.
• Thus the key objective of the drive was to identify illegal immigrants who had migrated to Assam during the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war.
• The NRC has only been published once in 1951 and it has not been updated since then.
• The first draft was notified in 2018 and a final list was published in 2019. This register included those who could establish their Indian citizenship by being residents or descendants of people living in Assam before March 25, 1971, which was the cut-off date for deportation of foreigners according to the Assam Accord of August 1985.
• Over 19.06 lakh people out of 3.3 crore applicants were not included in the register due to inadequate documentation in order to prove their citizenship.
• The issue has become controversial as various political parties have dismissed the final list as faulty and the process is now paused because the Registrar General of India (RGI) has not yet released the final list.