Assam: Construction work of India’s first mass detention centre in full swing

Authorities are on a war footing to complete the construction work of India’s first mass detention centre in Assam’s Goalpara district. The full-fledged detention centre coming up in Matia will

Authorities are on a war footing to complete the construction work of India’s first mass detention centre in Assam’s Goalpara district.

The full-fledged detention centre coming up in Matia will have a capacity of accommodating as many as 3,000 declared foreigners. The camp is the first of at least 10 detention centers that has been planned to set up by the Assam government.

Spread over an area of 2.5 hectares which is equivalent to the size of seven football grounds will have 15 four-storey buildings to accommodate the detainees and is likely to be completed by December this year.

It will also have a hospital, a common kitchen besides other basic facilities such as toilets, drinking water supply etc. The detention camp is estimated to cost around Rs 47 crores.

The centre has already stated that individuals whose names did not appear in the final NRC cannot be declared as a foreigner till all legal options are exhausted.

Persons left out of the NRC can appeal to the designated Foreigners’ Tribunals and approach the courts.

However, those who are not able to prove their citizenship will be taken to detention centres. A time limit of 120 days have been given to make appeals by those whose names did not figure in the final NRC.

In the final list of National Register of Citizens (NRC) published on August 31, over 19 lakh people were excluded.

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