GUWAHATI: As the final draft NRC is all set to be published on 31st July, 2019 the Seva kendras and the hearing centres are working at full steam to complete the work before the deadline. But the working condition of some of the seva kendras and hearing centres are far from good.
Recently, a notice was issued by the deputy commissioner, Kamrup (Metro), Biswajit Pegu after receiving complaints from the NRC employees working at the hotel Brahmaputra Ashok which was designated as a hearing centre along with the people who appeared for the hearing of claims and objections.
Speaking to G Plus, a Booth Level Officer (BLO) of a hearing centre at Sri Aurobindo Vidyamandir said that the working conditions are not good and that the officials have no have access to basic amenities. “We are working tirelessly to ensure that all the work gets done before the deadline, but the working conditions are not good.
The room designated to us for the work has broken ventilators and windows. When it rains the water enters through the window. Resultantly, the files that are kept beside these windows get wet, making it difficult to work here. Another thing is the access to the toilet. It becomes really difficult for us to visit the washroom after 3 pm because the bathrooms are shut after the school gets over and we have to use other places as we don’t have a separate place for us,” said the BLO.
Another BLO of the same hearing centre said that they have to purchase drinking water which is supposed to be provided by the authorities and the centre has only one light and three fans of which only one is working. “We bring our own water or buy them when necessary. The department is supposed to provide us with such basic amenities. The light that you see at the front is the only light for the entire room and especially after dusk it becomes difficult for us to carry out on working. Even out of the three fans in the room only one is in working condition; the other two don’t work,” said the official.
Another seva kendra located at Ulubari is in a shambles, the building in which the seva kendra is located is almost in a dilapidated condition. “We have been placed in a pathetic situation,” said an NRC officer adding, “The building is almost in ruins, the doors are broken, the ventilators and windows have no panes, the back side of the building is filled with tall bushes that have not been weeded out allowing mosquitoes to breed in the area thereby posing a threat to our health,” said the officer.
He further stated that bathroom is in unusable condition and has not been cleaned for a long time. “We even bought the chairs after the chairs given by the administration got broken and were not replaced. We later on bought the chairs with our own money,” said the officer.
One of the officers of the NSK (NRC Seva kendra) said that in many cases the officials who went to hand over hearing letters often found that the persons had left the city and gone to other states or back to their native states.
Another NSK located at Uzan Bazar area is also similar in condition. Officials stated that water was not provided and the toilet there is unusable and unhygienic especially for the women officials. Further, there is no other arrangement for the same. The official said, “We buy water from outside; the office doesn’t provide us drinking water. The washroom that is available is very unhygienic and unusable. For us males we manage but the women officials face a tough time as there is no space made available for the women in the washroom.”
Even the recently shifted hearing centre from Hotel Brahmaputra Ashok to Cotton Collegiate School lacks sitting arrangements for people who come for the hearing, said an official.
District administration turns blind eye to issue
After listening to the plight of the officials at different NSKs and hearing centres, G Plus caught up with the district administration officer to seek answers for neglecting the issue even after getting a directive. “We are aware of the situation in some seva kendras,” said additional deputy commissioner, Kshitij Pegu, who is also the nodal officer for NRC. “We are also aware of the directive given by the authorities, but to be honest, the situation in Kamrup (Metro) is worse than rural areas because of lack of space available in government buildings.
Most hearings are now being done at government schools which even the school authorities have objected to because it creates a disturbance at the schools,” said ADC Pegu.
Pegu further said that some centres have been provided with water. But the administration is also trying to provide the same facility to other centres too. “Washrooms for the officials are those which are available at the centres. If we try to build a new toilet nearby we get objection from the campus authorities. So, all in all, we are bound because of certain issues but we are on it and if we get reports as such, I can assure you that we will work to fix the issue as soon as possible,” said Pegu.