Guwahati: The publication of the first draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) may have been a smooth business but real challenge before the Registrar General of India (RGI) is to complete the verification of remaining applicants who are waiting for inclusion of their names in the second draft NRC.

Admitting that the next big challenge before them is to identify people who illegally came to the state after March 25, 1971, the NRC authorities said that they are also faced with the problem of coordinating with other states, especially West Bengal, which have been sent over 5.5 lakh documents for verification but have not completed the process as yet.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had sparked a controversy by calling “missing names” as a ploy of the BJP to drive Bengalis out of Assam and alleged that not only Bengalis, but those from Bihar were also left out of the NRC.

Of the 3.29 crore applicants, the first draft included the name of 1.9 crore people - of which the ratio of inclusion was high from Assamese dominated Upper Assam districts and significantly low in Bengal- majority area of Barrak Valley, lower and central Assam. This has triggered anger among a section of people.

For inclusion in the NRC, applicants have to submit documents to prove that their names appeared in the NRC of 1951, or in any of the electoral rolls of Assam until 1971, or in any of the 12 other documents issued before March 24, 1971. They have to prove their linkage or relationship with family members whose name appears in the documents.

The NRC authorities said that 5.5 lakh documents have been sent to 28 states for verification of legacy data over the past two years since the update process had started. However, verification of only 1.5 lakh documents has been completed till now, slowing down the NRC update process.

The NRC authorities hoped said that once other states join the process with more energy, the update process will be much faster.

“We have trained several officials from other states on the verification method,” the NRC authorities said. It is significant that the entire exercise has been initiated under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

Of the 5.5-lakh documents sent to other states, about 1.1 lakh have been sent to West Bengal alone but only 6,000 have been verified by the state so far.

“We are pursuing the authorities in West Bengal and other states that have not accelerated the verification of legacy data,” said the authorities. The NRC officials fear the latest controversy triggered after the statement of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee may be another stumbling block.