Bongaigaon, April 27: Apolitical groups in Bongaigaon and Chirang districts have voiced concern over the problems faced by applicants while searching for their legacy data at the National Register of Citizens (NRC) service centres.

Either the applicants are finding the names of their ancestors missing or their surnames do not match with that in the legacy data, the groups said.

The NRC is a document containing the names of Indian citizens prepared in 1951. The ongoing NRC update process in Assam will enlist the names of genuine citizens based on NRC 1951 and electoral rolls up to midnight of March 24, 1971.

Chandan Medhi, president of the Bongaigaon unit of All Assam Students' Union (AASU), said, "We came to know from meetings with villagers in the district that married women, orphans and religious converts faced problems while searching for their legacy documents at NRC seva kendras."

He said since a majority of people in the two districts were unaware about the NRC update process, apolitical organisations were trying to help them to obtain link documents from NRC service centres or government departments. The Bongaigaon unit of AASU has organised six awareness meetings on NRC update in the district since the first week of April, Medhi said.

Troilokya Ray, general secretary of the Hiteswar Barman faction of the All Koch-Rajbongshi Student's Union, said, "Most citizens in Bongaigaon district are confused about the NRC update. Their names and titles appearing in legacy documents are wrong."

Because of these anomalies in legacy data, many citizens are struggling to establish their link with their forefathers to prove their citizenship in the state, Ray added.

Rafael Kujur, president of All Adivasi Student's Association of Assam, said, "Around 50 per cent of Adivasi people in some villages in western Assam have no legacy documents to prove their citizenship in the state. We demand that the government includes these document-less Adivasis in the NRC through some alternative means."

Jayanta Basumatary, unit adviser to the All Bodo Students' Union of Chirang district, said, "Earlier Bodo people used to write Boro as their common surname. Later, they changed their surnames to Basumatary, Narzary, Daimary, Mahilary, Brahma, Hazowary, Borgoyari, Iswary and Islary, among others. This creates confusion when these people approach the NRC centres for legacy data."

He said many genuine Bodo citizens in the district have no documents that could establish their link with their forefathers, as they did not feel the need earlier to preserve official papers for future use.

Rezaul Karim Sarkar, general secretary of All Assam Minority Student's Union (AAMSU), said: "Copies of the original voter rolls of 1951, 1966 and 1971 are not properly uploaded in the computers used at NRC service centres. Hence, many Muslim citizens are not getting their names there despite having the original hard copies with them."

The AAMSU will discuss the problems arising in the process of NRC update at a meeting at their central office at Hatigaon in Guwahati on April 30, Sarkar said.

Hindu Bengali citizens are suffering the same problems as Muslims, said Samrat Bhawal, president of the Bongaigaon district unit of the All Assam Bengali Youth Students' Federation.

Dinesh Prasad Sharma, president of Chirang district unit of Akhil Hindi Bhashi Vikash Parishad said because of insufficient NRC service centres and awareness on NRC update, Hindi-speaking citizens were finding it difficult to obtain their legacy documents in Chirang.

According to the administration, there are 26 NRC service centres in Chirang and 53 in Bongaigaon.

Once an applicant can establish through the legacy data that he or his ancestors had resided in Assam before the midnight of March 24, 1971, he just has to furnish proof of this link and of his identity to include his name in the updated NRC.

Alternatively, he may submit 12 officially approved documents. Married women will be required to establish the admissibility of inclusion through legacy data or through other admissible documents and by way of drawing linkage with own parents or ancestors only and not with husband's family.