Guwahati: Babul Das from Durung revenue village in Sonapur circle of Kamrup (metro) district, a field officer for the National Register of Citizens, has his name missing from the final draft of the NRC. It is a race against time for him and scores of others from Sonapur to make claims from August 10 that they are genuine citizens of India.

The Assam unit of Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) has claimed there could be around 3,000 people from Sonapur alone whose names do not feature on the final draft of NRC. The unit further estimated that of the 3,000, nearly 10 per cent could be doubtful voters.

Debasmita Ghosh of HRLN, who has dealt with nearly 500 cases pertaining to citizens from Sonapur alone, said: "When we spoke to some of our sources we were told that there could be around 3,000 people whose names have not come in the final draft. When we spoke to some of the people whose names have not come they were quite worried and some even said they are ready to go for litigation. We told them to wait for the claims to be made on August 10. Most of them have documents but were still left out."

Most of those excluded hail from the Bengali Hindu community whose parents migrated from East Pakistan in 1964 as refugees. They claim to have in their possession Refugee Certificate, Relief Eligibility Certificate (REC), Provision Certificate and other documents.

"My father was declared a doubtful voter years ago despite having valid documents. My name and my son's name have not come in the final draft. But my brothers' names are in the list. Now I have to race on August 10 to make claims," said Das, whose father Avinash was declared a doubtful voter in 1997 but his name was there in the voters' list of 1966.

Leela Ballav Chetri, a Nepali schoolteacher from number 2 Oujoni village near Durung, estimated that the number of those whose names were missing from the draft NRC could exceed 3,000.

"The names of nearly 60 per cent of Durung residents are not in the final draft. My family is the first family here and my father settled here before Partition but still I was declared a doubtful voter," said Chetri.

In Pub Malayabari, another revenue village in Sonapur circle, many of the people said their names are missing from the final draft of NRC.

"The names of my children, wife and mine are not in the final draft. We submitted all documents, including land documents from my wife's side. But it didn't work. The local NRC officials know me and they told me it is an error from the higher level. This is a matter of prestige. Many from my village didn't find their names in the final draft.

"Now I have to rush to make claims on August 10 and fill up the format form based on which we will go ahead with the required procedures," said Hemanta Nandi, a teacher from Pub Malayabari.