India Today – August 19, 2019

16 INDIATODAY AUGUST19, 2019

UPFRONT

O

nAugust3,
thousandsof
peoplefrom
Assamwhose
nameshadbeenincluded
inthestate’sdraftNational
RegisterofCitizens(NRC)
publishedlastyearreceived
noticesaskingthemto
appearbeforedesignatedau-
thoritiesforre-verification—
insomecases,hundredsof
kilometresawayfromtheir
homes—withintwoorthree
days.Forinstance,some
residentsofSontolivillage,
inKamrupdistrict,were
askedtoappearforhearings
inGolaghat,some 450 km
away.Asaresult,theseno-
ticescausedpanicamongthe
recipients—mostofwhom
wereMuslimfarmersand
daily-wagelabourers.
Thenoticeswereindi-
rectcontraventionofanorder
passedbytheSupremeCourt
onApril10,instructingNRC
authoritiesto‘ensurethat
noinconvenienceiscaused
tothepersonsrequiredto
attendthehearing,andsee
thattheyarenotrequired
totravellongdistances,if

possible’.There-verification

procedureapprovedbythe

SupremeCourtalsostates

thatauthoritiesareto‘ensure

thattheapplicantisserved

thenoticeatleast 15 days

priortothehearing’.

Questionshavealso

beenraisedaboutthetim-

ingofthesenotices—they

wereissuedjusttwodays

afterAssam’sministerof

commerceandindustry,

transportandparlia-

mentaryaffairs,Chandra

MohanPatowary,ques-

tionedtheefficiencyofstate

NRCcoordinatorPrateek

Hajelainthestateassembly.

Patowaryalsorevealedsome

confidentialnumbers—the

SupremeCourthadsought

thisdatafromNRCauthori-

tiesinasealedenvelope—to

highlightanomaliesinthe

NRCupdateprocess.

However,whatismost

curiousaboutHajela’s

decisiontosendoutthese

noticesisthatitcontradicts

hisownsubmissiontothe

apexcourtonJuly23.At

thetime,hehadstated

thattherewasnoneedfor

furtherre-verification,as

over7.2millionpeople—

percentofthoseincludedin

thedraftNRC—hadbeen

re-verifiedalready.“Perhaps

hewantstopleasesomeone.

Heknowsthatsuchnotices

willcreatelogisticalissues,

whichmayhelptheNRC

authoritiesexcludemore

names.However,Ibelieve

thatthisNRCincludes[the

namesof]manyillegal

immigrants,andwill[ask]

theSupremeCourtforclose

scrutiny[ofthis]inthenext

hearing,onAugust7.The

verificationmustnotbea

farceliketheoneconducted

byHajela,”saysAbhijit

Sarma,headofAssam

PublicWorks,anNGO,who

hadfiledaPILintheapex

courtin 2009 demanding

anupdateoftheNRC.(The

currentexerciseistheconse-

WHO’S IN,

WHO’S OUT

PART II

NRC

VERIFICATIONOfficialscheckdocumentsatanNRCofficeinDhubri

By Kaushik Deka

India’s Streaming

Wars

Netflix has blamed the first drop in its US subscriber

numbers since 2011 on price hikes announced in

January. In India, a huge and growing market for

Netflix, the streaming service has taken the opposite

tack—announcing a lower-price option for mobile

phone and tablet use only. In India, the company faces

stiff competition from Amazon Prime and local player

Hotstar, which dominates audience share, in large

part due to its live sport broadcasts. Netflix does earn

substantially more money per user. Accounting firm

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) estimates that India’s

video-streaming industry will be worth Rs 12,

crore by 2023, recording the highest growth rates in the

country’s overall media and entertainment industry.

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