Guwahati/Silchar, May 18: Dispur has sought clarification from the Registrar General of India (RGI) on documents admissible for inclusion in the NRC of those who lived in Shillong, the capital of undivided Assam, and then shifted to present-day Assam after creation of Meghalaya in 1972.

An official source said a substantial number of families, who resided in Shillong till Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972 and then settled in present-day Assam, don't have their or their ancestors' names in the legacy data prepared for NRC update.

Legacy data, which was prepared on the basis of 1951 NRC and pre-1971 electoral rolls, is the primary record admissible to substantiate the claim of citizenship for inclusion of names in the updated NRC.

"There is a sizeable chunk of people who were in Shillong before Meghalaya attained statehood and then settled in present-day Assam. There names are not there in the legacy data because the 1951 NRC and pre-1971 electoral rolls containing their or their ancestors' names are now with the Meghalaya government," the source said.

"In order to remove any confusion whatsoever and to have total clarity on the matter, the state coordinator for NRC, Prateek Hajela, has written to the RGI, seeking clarification on what documents of such people will be accepted as their or their ancestors' proof of residence in Assam prior to March 24 (midnight) 1971 for inclusion of their names in the updated NRC," the source said, adding that a response from the RGI was awaited.

He said the NRC directorate has also sought clarification from the RGI on the documents admissible for people from other states who had permanently settled in Assam after 1971 for inclusion of their names in the NRC.

In a related development, a newly floated civil group of Barak Valley, Nagarikottwa Suraksha Sangram Committee, will hold civil disobedience movement in Silchar, the headquarters of Cachar district, on May 22 against the modalities for NRC update. The committee will hold similar protests in Hailakandi and Karimganj districts.

Another group, the Barak Valley Human Rights Protection Society, held a daylong protest in Silchar today, demanding that the electoral rolls of 2014 be made the base for NRC update.

A delegation of the Citizens' Rights Preservation Committee (CRPC) met Hajela in Guwahati and sought his intervention into a host of issues regarding NRC update.

A general secretary of the committee, Bidhayak Das Purkayastha, told The Telegraph today that they had a fruitful meeting with Hajela who had assured them of necessary steps to address their grievances.

"Barring parts of 1951 NRC and the voter lists of 1966 and 1971, no other voter rolls are available in the NRC seva kendras set up in the state. We have urged Hajela to make the voter lists of 1952, 1957, 1961 and 1962 available too so that the people don't face any difficulty," Das Purkayastha said.

The CRPC demanded setting up of more seva kendras in the state as each centre covers two to three gaon panchayats having a large population. It also requested Hajela to treat women married to Indian citizens as "citizens by status or citizens by registration as per section 5 (1) (c) of the Citizenship Act".

Additional reporting by Nilotpal Bhattacharjee