New Delhi: Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced Sunday that Haryana would soon have its own NRC exercise on the lines of the one in Assam. And the man who suggested the exercise to him, former Punjab & Haryana High Court judge H.S. Bhalla, has also recommended a “state-specific ID card” to keep anti-social elements at bay.
Khattar announced the NRC after meeting retired Justice Bhalla and Admiral Sunil Lanba, the former Navy chief, as part of the BJP’s ‘Maha Sampark Abhiyan’ ahead of the Haryana assembly elections.
Speaking to ThePrint, Bhalla, former acting chairperson of the Haryana Human Rights Commission, said the issue of “illegal immigrants” snatching the livelihood of local residents prompted him to moot the idea of an NRC.
“During my tenure as the acting chairperson of the Haryana Human Rights Commission, we used to deal with cases where illegal immigrants were snatching bread and butter from locals. Hence, an NRC is required in Haryana and it was suggested by me,” said the former judge.
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State-specific IDs
Elaborating his idea of state-specific IDs, Bhalla said: “Every family should have some card so that anywhere they go, may be Maharashtra or UP, they can show their card and state that they belong to Haryana.”
Such an ID could form the basis of a register which could keep anti-social elements in check, he said.
“NRC is something else, but in this case a register could be maintained so that even anti-social elements can be tracked down at a faster speed. These elements will not be able to procure such a card,” Bhalla said.
He added that such a card would remove the hurdle of obtaining a domicile certificate, and would be different from Aadhaar.
“Aadhaar is a different card as it does not prove that you are a resident of the state for a large number of years. If one goes to school or college and has to claim reservation, there is an elaborate process of domicile certificates, etc. This card will weed out the need for this,” he said. “We are only conducting a study and making suggestions to the government.”
Modalities to be worked out later
As part of his NRC announcement, Khattar had said Bhalla would visit Assam soon. “He is also working on NRC and will visit Assam soon. I said that we will implement NRC in Haryana and have sought Bhalla ji’s support and suggestion,” Khattar said.
Bhalla will be accompanied by other former judges and will study the Assam NRC, with a reputed NGO providing assistance.
Asked what could be the possible cut-off date for a possible Haryana NRC, Bhalla said the modalities could only be discussed on his return from Assam.
The former judge has, however, maintained that he has not been officially roped in by the government, and that these are only suggestions. The modalities, he said, need to be worked out.
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