Guwahati, Aug. 5: The doubtful voters’ case is likely to throw a spanner in the process of updating the 1951 National Register of Citizens (NRC).

This became clear when the NRC co-ordination committee of linguistic and religious minority organisations of Assam today said an error-free NRC would not be possible if the issue of D-voters was not resolved at the earliest.

One of the convenors of the committee, Nripendra Chandra Saha, told The Telegraph today that the committee “honoured” the 1985 Assam Accord and wanted the NRC issue to be resolved at the earliest. But the manner in which the government was going about the job would not help meet the stated objective, he added.

The committee will meet here on Sunday to deliberate and chart out its future course of action. It will seek immediate settlement of the D-voters issue. This demand is likely to compound the problems confronting the government over updating the 1951 NRC. The process was suspended after police fired on a mob opposing the exercise in Barpeta in July.

A cabinet sub-committee, formed in the wake of the firing, will meet under the chairmanship of Assam Accord implementation minister Bhumidhar Barman tomorrow to discuss how to make the registration drive simple and convenient by examining the apprehensions of all parties. There are nearly 156,263 voters who are in the doubtful category. Officially, their number has come down to 1.56 lakh in 2009 from 3.75 lakh in 1998. However, according to Saha, there are around 3.35 lakh D-voters in the state. “What will happen to these people? Their case needs to be settled and I am sure it can be settled within three months,” he argued.

Sources said steps to resolve the D-voters’ issue could delay the entire process. “We need to complete the pilot project by December. But after the firing, we are not sure about meeting the deadline. If the D-voters come into play now, there could be further delay,” one of them said.

The committee, Saha said, had warned Delhi in March that a law and order problem could occur if the process of updating was not changed.

“In other places, there is house-to-house enumeration. Here one has to apply. Can the offices take the load of people descending at one time? House-to-house enumeration (teams) can comprise local and political representatives, student bodies and senior officials wherever possible so that foreigners cannot get themselves enlisted. Checks can be done on the spot. Moreover, the NRC form itself is flawed. Names of some villages are missing from 1951, 1966 and 1971 voter’s list. The form does not allow for the head of the family to mention the names of four persons. In the 1951 NRC, a person’s offsprings have not been named. How can one prove linkage in such a situation?” Saha said.