Meet Anita Verma – The Standing Counsel for the NRC

GUWAHATI: An advocate at the Gauhati High Court, Anita Verma is presently engaged as the Standing Counsel for the National Register of Citizens (NRC). A fiercely independent lady of immense grit, Anita has been practicing law for over 15 years. 

Not only has she had the opportunity to appear for the Assam State government right from the beginning of her career, she has been associated with important matters relating to election, constitutional as well as civil departments.

Born in Guwahati to Rama Rani and Bal Krishna Verma (a retired city based businessman), Anita studied at St Mary’s Convent School, Guwahati. She then shifted to Punjab to pursue Pre-University education from Punjab University (PU), due to the Assam Agitation. Anita returned to Guwahati to pursue graduation in English Honours from Gauhati University (GU).

Mother to three children, Krit, Mrig and Tejal, she never let motherhood deter her dreams. Although she has a lot of respect for all women – be it homemakers or professionals - she believes that striking a balance between family and work is very important as both are co-related. 

Talking to G Plus about her childhood, Anita recalls, “I have spent my entire life in Guwahati but the beautiful city of my childhood is now lost and a concrete jungle has taken its place. The Assam-type houses have been replaced by cemented buildings and playing spaces have been converted into shopping malls and multiplexes.” 

It was 10 years after her graduation that Anita decided to study law and joined the Government Law College in Guwahati. The determined and firm person that she is, she didn’t let anything come in the way of her studies. She said, “All women need to have a profession in life to be financially independent.”Anita further told G Plus that she is very passionate about photography and wanted to be a photo-journalist but ended up studying law due to situations prevailing back then. She believes that no matter what you plan to do, you’ll end up where God has planned for you to be. 

Soon after graduating from law college in 2001, Anita started her career with the present Senior Additional Advocate General, Devajit Lon Saikia, and handled path-breaking cases with him. In 2012, Anita branched out and started her practice independently. She has been the Standing Counsel for various state departments like health, finance, the National Health Mission (NHM) and also had a brief stint with the education department. She is also the Special Counsel for Panchayat & Rural Development and Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL).

Speaking to G Plus about her career so far, Anita says, “With every case, you get to learn something new and that’s what keeps me going. But this profession needs a lot of patience and in the initial two years of my career I was reluctant about whether to carry on or not. So I took a break for a year and enrolled for Media Studies at Bangalore and joined the Art of Living. My time at the ashram changed me as a person. But then, I returned to Guwahati in 2005 due to compelling circumstances and continued with the profession.”

For the past 7 months, Anita has been appearing as Standing Counsel for Prateek Hajela, the State Coordinator for National Register of Citizens (NRC).  “Assam is like a free country for everyone – there’s nobody to keep a check on who is coming inside or going out of the state. I feel that the problem of illegal migrants could have been avoided had our government taken proactive steps right from the beginning,” Anita expressed.
 
“There is so much indiscipline in our system which needs to be corrected and I hope that the new government will be able to systemise,” she further added. 

Anita is also a social activist, who loves to help the underprivileged. She’s been working closely with the Missionaries of Charity since her school days and goes to Kolkata every year to devote some time to the homes where old and mentally challenged people are taken care of by the sisters. The selfless work done by the sisters motivates her and it is a very deep connect with the realities of life. She considers Mother Teresa as her biggest inspiration in life and looks up to her. Anita is also an active volunteer at the Art of Living since 2004 and was closely associated with SOS Village.

Anita helps people who are interested in adopting children, adoption being the closest subject to her heart. “It breaks my heart to see babies abandoned by parents and left mercilessly helpless. Wish we had more people with compassion, that’s what the world needs today more than anything else,” she said.