Jorhat, Nov. 24: The second phase of update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam - verification - will trace the family tree of each applicant so that unscrupulous elements cannot insert their names as part of bonafide Indian families.

NRC workers are distributing another set of forms where people will have to include the names of their family for two generations to build a family tree.

This date will be matched with earlier inputs through Direct Image software in Guwahati in case of anomalies, an NRC official in Guwahati told The Telegraph over phone.

"False linkages can then be weeded out and the NRC can be made more error-free," he said.

The new form requires individuals to provide the names of their siblings and the names of the children of their sons and brothers but not married sisters.

This will help create a family tree and prevent unscrupulous elements from claiming the same ancestry.

Gaurav Borthakur, an NRC coordinator here, said the verification exercise was being undertaken with more than a thousand workers in the field.

He said the draft NRC would be published by January 1 after which time would be given for objections and incorporation of names left out. By March, before the elections, the final NRC will be published. "We are doing things on a war footing."

However, Rintu Goswami, a senior advocate here, said the entire process of NRC update would be futile unless Parliament repeals the last amendment to Citizenship Act 1955, which says that all those born between March 25, 1971, and December 3, 2004, are Indian citizens by birth.

He said a petition in this regard was pending in the Supreme Court and there was no use trying to establish who was a citizen and who wasn't till the matter was resolved.

Goswami said the Supreme Court had asked the Centre and Assam about three months ago to file affidavits saying whether they agreed upon March 25, 1971, as the cut-off date for establishing who is a foreigner.

"As far as my knowledge goes, neither the state nor the Centre has done so," he said. If the Centre and state agree on March 25, 1971, as the date, the amendment would automatically be repealed.

"In Assam, we are seeking to oust all those who had come to the state after March 24, 1971. Unless the act is repealed and then amended so that the two dates tally, there is no use updating the NRC so that foreigners can be weeded out," he said.

Prabajan Virodhi Manch, of which Goswami is a member, has already sent a memorandum in this regard to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Pranab Mukherjhee and Union home minister Rajnath Singh.