Over 100 IAS Officers appeal to Indian Citizens
AN OPEN
LETTER TO THE CITIZENS OF INDIA:
INDIA DOES
NOT NEED THE CAA-NPR-NRIC
9 January
2020
Dear Fellow Citizens of India,
Over the past few weeks, many of you
have been understandably agitated over the enactment of the Citizenship
Amendment Act, 2019 ("CAA").
Your fears have been compounded by the contradictory and confusing statements
made by spokespersons of the Government of India on the implementation of the
National Register of Indian Citizens ("NRIC"), Though that
government now seeks to delink the National Population Register (“NPR”) from the NRIC, we, the Constitutional Conduct Group, comprising former civil
servants from the All-India and Central Services committed to the Constitution
of India, consider it our duty to inform you that the three issues are linked, acquaint
you with the facts regarding the NPR,
NRIC and the CAA and emphasise why these measures need to be resolutely opposed.
For easy comprehension, we are listing the issues pointwise:
- There is no need for the NPR and NRIC
Both the NPR and NRIC exercises
flow out of the amendments in 2003 to the Citizenship Act, 1955 (“1955 Act”) and the Citizenship
(Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003
("2003 Rules") framed by
the then NDA government in 2003. The NPR
has nothing to do with the Census of India, which is conducted every ten years
and is next due in 2021. While the Census collects information about all
residents of India without listing their names, the NPR is a list of names of all those who have lived in India for
over six months, regardless of their nationality. A Population Register will
contain the list of persons usually residing within a specified local area
(village/town/ward/demarcated area).
The NRIC will effectively be a subset of the Population Registers for
the entire country. The 2003 Rules provide for verification of the
details in the Population Register by the Local Registrar (normally a taluka or
town functionary) who will separate out cases of doubtful citizenship and
conduct further enquiries. After carrying out enquiries in respect of residents
whose citizenship status is suspect, the Local Registrar will prepare a draft
Local Register of Indian Citizens, which would exclude those not able to
establish, through documentary proof, their claim to be citizens of India.
It is at this stage that the
experience of the citizens of Assam can cause apprehensions in the minds of
those who are required to establish their citizenship, whether or not they
profess any religion. The NPR 2020,
unlike the NPR 2010, asks not only
for the names of the parents of the resident, but also seeks to also record
their dates and places of birth. A person who is not able to furnish these
details for his/her parents or, for that matter, for himself/herself, could
well be classified a “doubtful citizen”.
The 2003 amendments to the 1955 Act (vide Sections 3 (b), 3 (c) and 14A) and the consequent
introduction of the 2003 Rules seem
to indicate an undue obsession about illegal migrants, without any factual
basis. We fail to understand the need for a nationwide identification of
“illegal migrants”, which is what the NRIC
in effect amounts to, when census statistics over the past seven decades do
not show any major demographic shifts, except in certain pockets in some areas
of North-Eastern and Eastern India adjoining our neighbouring countries.
We are apprehensive that the vast
powers to include or exclude a person from the Local Register of Indian
Citizens that is going to be vested in the bureaucracy at a fairly junior level
has the scope to be employed in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner, subject
to local pressures and to meet specific political objectives, not to mention
the unbridled scope for large-scale corruption. Added to this is the provision
for objections to the draft Local Register from any person. The Assam NRC exercise
has thrown up the dangers of such a large-scale exercise: lakhs of citizens
have been made to spend their life’s savings running from pillar to post to
establish their citizenship credentials. Worrying reports are already coming in
of people in different parts of India rushing in panic to obtain the necessary
birth documents. The problem is magnified in a country where the maintenance of
birth records is poor, coupled with highly inefficient birth registration
systems. Errors of inclusion and exclusion have been a feature of all
large-scale surveys in India, the Below Poverty Line survey and the
Socio-Economic Caste Census being prime examples. The recently completed NRC
exercise in Assam has been equally error-ridden and has led to major discontent.
Indeed the State Government itself, with the BJP in power, has rejected its own
NRC data, an extremely ludicrous scenario.
The provisions of the CAA, coupled with rather aggressive
statements over the past few years from the highest levels of this government,
rightly cause deep unease in India’s Muslim community, which has already faced
discrimination and attacks on issues ranging from allegations of love jihad to cattle smuggling and
beef consumption. That the Muslim community has had to face the brunt of
police action in recent days only in those states where the local police is
controlled by the party in power at the centre only adds credence to the
widespread feeling that the NPR-NRIC exercise
could be used for selective targeting of specific communities and individuals.
Added to the inconvenience that the NPR would put the common person through
is the unnecessary expenditure on the NPR
exercise, when data which is now to be gathered is already available through the
Aadhaar system: these include name, address, date of birth, father/husband’s
name and gender. Most Indian citizens are already covered by Aadhaar. The
purpose of gathering a lot of the additional data (over and above the Aadhaar
details) is unclear and will only give rise to the reasonable apprehension that
the bona fide citizen could be
enmeshed in an interminable, costly bureaucratic exercise if his/her
citizenship status comes under doubt.
Our group of former civil servants,
with many years of service in the public sphere, is firmly of the view that
both the NPR and the NRIC are unnecessary and wasteful
exercises, which will cause hardship to the public at large and will also
entail public expenditure that is better spent on schemes benefiting the poor and
disadvantaged sections of society. They also constitute an invasion of the
citizens’ right to privacy, since a lot of information, including Aadhaar,
mobile numbers and voter IDs will be listed in a document, with scope for
misuse.
- Why authorise widespread setting up of Foreigners’
Tribunals and detention camps?:
The Foreigners (Tribunals) Amendment
Order, 2019 (issued on 30 May 2019) has unnecessarily stoked fears that
Foreigners’ Tribunals can now be set up on the orders of any District
Magistrate in India and is the precursor to a widespread exercise to identify
“illegal migrants”. While the central government may contend that there is no
such intention, it was surely impolitic, given the prevailing atmosphere in
Assam and elsewhere, to issue such blanket orders delegating powers for
constituting Foreigners’ Tribunals. The experience with Foreigners’ Tribunals
in Assam has been, to put it bluntly, traumatic for those at the receiving end.
After running the gamut of gathering documents and answering objections to
their citizenship claims, “doubtful citizens” have also had to contend with
these Tribunals, the composition and functioning of which were highly
discretionary and arbitrary. Consequently, a number of citizens lost their
lives in the quest for affirming citizenship or have had to suffer the
indignity of incarceration in detention camps.
There have also been media reports,
not denied by the Government of India, that orders for setting up detention
camps have been given to all state governments. We are frankly bemused by the
Prime Minister’s recent statement that no such camps are in existence, when
reports have documented the construction of such camps in states as far apart
as Goalpara in Assam and Nelamangala in Karnataka and the intention to
construct a detention centre in Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra. The Government of
India has not come out with any statistics to show that the “illegal migrants”
problem in India is so severe that it requires the large-scale construction of
detention camps all over the country.
- The constitutional and moral untenability of the CAA:
We have
our grave reservations about the constitutional validity of the CAA provisions, which we also consider
to be morally indefensible. We would like to emphasise that a statute that
consciously excludes the Muslim religion from its purview is bound to give rise
to apprehensions in what is a very large segment of India’s population. A
formulation that focused on those suffering persecution (religious, political,
social) in any country in the world would not only have calmed local
apprehensions but would also have been appreciated by the international
community. In its current formulation, the CAA does not even mention the word
"persecuted", probably because using this word in the context of
Afghanistan and Bangladesh would have marred India's relations with these
countries. Given that the Government of India has powers to grant citizenship
after a migrant has completed eleven years in India, it would be instructive to
know whether the Government of India has cleared all pending cases of “illegal
migrants” till end-2008. Since the discretion to grant citizenship and to
exempt individuals/groups from the purview of the Passport Act, 1920 and the
Foreigners Act, 1946 lies entirely with the Government of India, this
discretion could have been exercised on a case by case basis by the Government
of India without any need to go through the exercise of the CAA and mentioning
specific communities from specific countries.
What has given rise to grave
apprehensions about the intentions of the Government of India has been the rash
of statements by Ministers of the Government of India in recent times, linking
the NRIC and the CAA. The Prime Minister’s statement at
a public meeting in Delhi on 22 December that the CAA and the NRIC are not
linked contradicts the averments of his Home Minister on repeated occasions in
various fora. In such a welter of conflicting and confusing utterances, it is
hardly surprising that the ordinary citizen is left bewildered and is overcome
by unknown fears, more so when government has not entered into any dialogue on
this issue. At a time when the economic situation in the country warrants the
closest attention of the government, India can ill afford a situation where the
citizenry and the government enter into confrontation on the roads. Nor is it
desirable to have a situation where the majority of State Governments are not
inclined to implement the NPR/NRIC,
leading to an impasse in centre-state relations, so crucial in a federal set up
like India. Above all, we see a situation developing where India is in danger
of losing international goodwill and alienating its immediate neighbours, with
adverse consequences for the security set-up in the sub-continent. India also
stands to lose its position as a moral beacon guiding many other countries on the
path to liberal democracy.
We,
therefore, urge our fellow citizens to insist, as we do, that the Government of
India pay heed to the voice of the citizens of India and take the following
steps at the earliest:
(1)
Repeal Sections 14A and 18 (2) (ia) of the Citizenship Act,
1955, pertaining to the issue of national identity cards and its procedures and
the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards)
Rules, 2003 in its entirety.
(2)
Withdraw the Foreigners (Tribunals) Amendment Order, 2019
and withdraw all instructions for construction of detention camps.
(3)
Repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.
SATYAMEVA
JAYATE
CONSTITUTIONAL CONDUCT GROUP
|
1.
|
Anita
Agnihotri
|
IAS (Retd.)
|
Former Secretary, Department of Social Justice Empowerment, GoI
|
|
2.
|
Salahuddin
Ahmad
|
IAS (Retd.)
|
Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan
|
|
3.
|
V.S.
Ailawadi
|
IAS (Retd.)
|
Former Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority
|
|
4.
|
S.P.
Ambrose
|
IAS (Retd.)
|
Former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping & Transport, GoI
|
|
5.
|
Anand
Arni
|
R&AW
(Retd.)
|
Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, GoI
|
|
6.
|
Mohinderpal
Aulakh
|
IPS
(Retd.)
|
Former Director General of Police (Jails), Govt. of Punjab
|
|
7.
|
N.
Bala Baskar
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Principal Adviser (Finance), Ministry
of External Affairs, GoI
|
|
8.
|
Vappala
Balachandran
|
IPS
(Retd.)
|
Former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat,
GoI
|
|
9.
|
Gopalan
Balagopal
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Special Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
|
|
10.
|
Chandrashekhar
Balakrishnan
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Secretary, Coal, GoI
|
|
11.
|
Sharad
Behar
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya
Pradesh
|
|
12.
|
Madhu
Bhaduri
|
IFS
(Retd.)
|
Former Ambassador to Portugal
|
|
13.
|
Meeran
C Borwankar
|
IPS
(Retd.)
|
Former DGP, Bureau of Police Research and
Development, GoI
|
|
14.
|
Ravi
Budhiraja
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust,
GoI
|
|
15.
|
Sundar
Burra
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
|
|
16.
|
R.
Chandramohan
|
IAS (Retd.)
|
Former
Principal Secretary, Transport and Urban Development, Govt. of NCT of Delhi
|
|
17.
|
K.M.
Chandrasekhar
|
IAS (Retd.)
|
Former
Cabinet Secretary, GoI
|
|
18.
|
Rachel
Chatterjee
|
IAS (Retd.)
|
Former
Special Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh
|
|
19.
|
Kalyani
Chaudhuri
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
|
|
20.
|
Anna
Dani
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra
|
|
21.
|
Surjit
K. Das
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Uttarakhand
|
|
22.
|
Vibha
Puri Das
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI
|
|
23.
|
P.R.
Dasgupta
|
IAS (Retd.)
|
Former
Chairman, Food Corporation of India, GoI
|
|
24.
|
Nareshwar
Dayal
|
IFS (Retd.)
|
Former
Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and former High Commissioner to the
United Kingdom
|
|
25.
|
Pradeep K. Deb
|
IAS (Retd.)
|
Former
Secretary, Deptt. Of Sports, GoI
|
|
26.
|
Nitin
Desai
|
IES (Retd.)
|
Former
Secretary and Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, GoI
|
|
27.
|
Keshav
Desiraju
|
IAS (Retd.)
|
Former
Health Secretary, GoI
|
|
28.
|
M.G.
Devasahayam
|
IAS (Retd.)
|
Former Secretary, Govt. of Haryana
|
|
29.
|
Sushil
Dubey
|
IFS (Retd.)
|
Former Ambassador to Sweden
|
|
30.
|
K.P.
Fabian
|
IFS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Ambassador to Italy
|
|
31.
|
Prabhu
Ghate
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Addl. Director General, Department of Tourism, GoI
|
|
32.
|
Arif
Ghauri
|
IRS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Governance Adviser, DFID, Govt. of the United Kingdom (on deputation)
|
|
33.
|
Gourisankar
Ghosh
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Mission Director, National
Drinking Water Mission, GoI
|
|
34.
|
S.K.
Guha
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Joint Secretary, Department of Women
& Child Development, GoI
|
|
35.
|
Meena
Gupta
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Secretary, Ministry of Environment
& Forests, GoI
|
|
36.
|
Ravi
Vira Gupta
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India
|
|
37.
|
Wajahat
Habibullah
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Secretary, GoI and Chief Information Commissioner
|
|
38.
|
Deepa
Hari
|
IRS
(Resigned)
|
|
|
39.
|
Sajjad
Hassan
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of
Manipur
|
|
40.
|
Siraj
Hussain
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Secretary, Department of Agriculture,
GoI
|
|
41.
|
Kamal
Jaswal
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Secretary, Department of Information
Technology, GoI
|
|
42.
|
Jagdish
Joshi
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Additional Chief Secretary (Planning),
Govt. of Maharashtra
|
|
43.
|
Najeeb
Jung
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Lieutenant Governor, Delhi
|
|
44.
|
Rahul
Khullar
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority
of India
|
|
45.
|
K.
John Koshy
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former State Chief Information Commissioner,
West Bengal
|
|
46.
|
Ajai
Kumar
|
IFoS
(Retd.)
|
Former Director, Ministry of Agriculture, GoI
|
|
47.
|
Arun
Kumar
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Chairman, National Pharmaceutical
Pricing Authority, GoI
|
|
48.
|
Brijesh
Kumar
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Secretary, Department of Information
Technology, GoI
|
|
49.
|
P.K.
Lahiri
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Executive Director, Asian Development Bank
|
|
50.
|
Subodh
Lal
|
IPoS
(Resigned)
|
Former
Deputy Director General, Ministry of Communications, GoI
|
|
51.
|
S.K.
Lambah
|
IFS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of
India
|
|
52.
|
P.M.S.
Malik
|
IFS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Ambassador to Myanmar & Special Secretary, MEA, GoI
|
|
53.
|
Harsh
Mander
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Govt.
of Madhya Pradesh
|
|
54.
|
Lalit
Mathur
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Director General, National Institute of Rural Development, GoI
|
|
55.
|
Aditi
Mehta
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Rajasthan
|
|
56.
|
Shivshankar
Menon
|
IFS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Foreign Secretary and Former National Security Adviser
|
|
57.
|
Sonalini
Mirchandani
|
IFS
(Resigned)
|
GoI
|
|
58.
|
Sunil
Mitra
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI
|
|
59.
|
Deb
Mukharji
|
IFS (Retd.)
|
Former High Commissioner to Bangladesh and former
Ambassador to Nepal
|
|
60.
|
Shiv
Shankar Mukherjee
|
IFS (Retd.)
|
Former High Commissioner
to the United Kingdom
|
|
61.
|
Pranab
S. Mukhopadhyay
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Director,
Institute of Port Management, GoI
|
|
62.
|
Sobha
Nambisan
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Principal
Secretary (Planning), Govt. of Karnataka
|
|
63.
|
P.G.J.
Nampoothiri
|
IPS
(Retd.)
|
Former Director General
of Police, Govt. of Gujarat
|
|
64.
|
Surendra
Nath
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Member, Finance
Commission, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh
|
|
65.
|
P.A.
Nazareth
|
IFS
(Retd.)
|
GoI
|
|
66.
|
Amitabha
Pande
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Secretary,
Inter-State Council, GoI
|
|
67.
|
Alok
Perti
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Secretary,
Ministry of Coal, GoI
|
|
68.
|
R.M.
Premkumar
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Chief Secretary,
Govt. of Maharashtra
|
|
69.
|
T.R.
Raghunandan
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Joint Secretary,
Ministry of Panchayati Raj, GoI
|
|
70.
|
N.K.
Raghupathy
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission,
GoI
|
|
71.
|
V.P.
Raja
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Chairman, Maharashtra Electricity
Regulatory Commission
|
|
72.
|
C. Babu Rajeev
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Secretary, GoI
|
|
73.
|
K.
Sujatha Rao
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Health Secretary, GoI
|
|
74.
|
M.Y.
Rao
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
|
|
75.
|
Satwant
Reddy
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Secretary, Chemicals and
Petrochemicals, GoI
|
|
76.
|
Julio
Ribeiro
|
IPS
(Retd.)
|
Former Adviser to Governor of Punjab &
former Ambassador to Romania
|
|
77.
|
Aruna
Roy
|
IAS
(Resigned)
|
|
|
78.
|
Manabendra
N. Roy
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of
West Bengal
|
|
79.
|
Deepak
Sanan
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Principal Adviser (AR) to Chief
Minister, Govt. of Himachal Pradesh
|
|
80.
|
G.
Sankaran
|
IC&CES
(Retd.)
|
Former President,
Customs, Excise and Gold (Control) Appellate Tribunal
|
|
81.
|
Shyam Saran
|
IFS (Retd.)
|
Former Foreign Secretary
and Former Chairman, National Security Advisory Board
|
|
82.
|
S.
Satyabhama
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Chairperson, National Seeds Corporation, GoI
|
|
83.
|
N.C.
Saxena
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI
|
|
84.
|
Ardhendu
Sen
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal
|
|
85.
|
Abhijit
Sengupta
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI
|
|
86.
|
Aftab
Seth
|
IFS
(Retd.)
|
Former Ambassador to Japan
|
|
87.
|
Ashok
Kumar Sharma
|
IFS
(Retd.)
|
Former Ambassador to Finland and Estonia
|
|
88.
|
Navrekha
Sharma
|
IFS
(Retd.)
|
Former Ambassador to Indonesia
|
|
89.
|
Pravesh
Sharma
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of
Madhya Pradesh
|
|
90.
|
Raju
Sharma
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Member, Board of Revenue, Govt. of
Uttar Pradesh
|
|
91.
|
Rashmi
Shukla Sharma
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of
Madhya Pradesh
|
|
92.
|
Har
Mander Singh
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Director General, ESI Corporation, GoI
|
|
93.
|
Padamvir
Singh
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Director, LBSNAA, Mussoorie, GoI
|
|
94.
|
Satyavir
Singh
|
IRS
(Retd.)
|
Former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, GoI
|
|
95.
|
Sujatha
Singh
|
IFS
(Retd.)
|
Former Foreign Secretary, GoI
|
|
96.
|
Tirlochan
Singh
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Secretary, National Commission for
Minorities, GoI
|
|
97.
|
Jawhar
Sircar
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
|
|
98.
|
Narendra
Sisodia
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI
|
|
99.
|
Manoj
Srivastava
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Commissioner, Departmental Enquiries (Chief Secretary rank)
|
|
100.
|
Sanjivi
Sundar
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Secretary, Ministry of Surface Transport, GoI
|
|
101.
|
Parveen
Talha
|
IRS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Member, Union Public Service Commission
|
|
102.
|
Thanksy
Thekkekera
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Additional Chief Secretary, Minorities Development, Govt. of Maharashtra
|
|
103.
|
P.S.S.
Thomas
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission
|
|
104.
|
Geetha
Thoopal
|
IRAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
General Manager, Metro Railway, Kolkata
|
|
105.
|
Hindal
Tyabji
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former Chief Secretary rank, Govt. of Jammu &
Kashmir
|
|
106.
|
Ramani Venkatesan
|
IAS
(Retd.)
|
Former
Director General, YASHADA, Govt. of Maharashtra
|
