Dhubri, July 17: The residents of Dhubri district are having a harrowing time to get their linkage certificates from municipal boards and ward commissioners so that they can submit the same along with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) forms.

For the uninitiated, a link certificate is one which establishes the relationship between the person whose name appeared in NRC of 1951 or any of the voter lists prior to 1971 and the person whose name does not figure in any of the documents prior to 1971.

For example, a person whose name does not figure in any of the voter lists or documents of Assam prior to March, 24, 1971, but names of other family members appeared in admissible documents, then he or she has to collect the link certificate from the civic bodies or panchayats to establish the relationship.

The applicants alleged that nearly 500 applications were lying pending before the Dhubri Municipal Board chairperson as he had not been coming to work and inaccessible over phone.

In an announcement by the Dhubri district administration, a couple of weeks ago, the residents were asked to collect the link certificates. An applicant, whose name is figured in the NRC legacy data, is supposed to collect the link certificate along with his or her spouse or other family members from the Dhubri Municipal Board. Chairman/chairperson or executives of boards and town committees were asked to provide the link certificates verified and signed by the ward commissioner of the respective wards in the presence of two elderly witnesses.

"This was instructed as the genuine Indian citizens were being harassed and deprived of the facilities of the NRC registration. The board and town committees are reportedly harassing residents. We will look into the allegation," said an NRC seva kendra official who did not wish to be named.

In Dhubri district, only 30 per cent NRC forms had been submitted so far, an official source said.

Talking to The Telegraph , Dhubri district officer, Housing Board, Purna Chandra Bora, who is in-charge of Dhubri Dak Bungalow NRC seva kendra, said at his centre, of nearly 6,000 households, 1,091 NRC forms had been scanned and about 500 forms were in queue.

When Dhubri deputy commissioner Nazrul Islam was informed about the residents' harassment in the name of issuing link certificates, he said he was not aware of this and till now, no one had complained either.

"The applicants should have approached the executive officer of the board as he is empowered to deal with it. I will definitely look into the complaints of the residents and do the needful because they should not get harassed while obtaining the link certificates," Islam added.