Assam NRC Data went Offline due to Non-payment of Dues, Confirms Wipro

Guwahati, February 13, 2020:

The online data of the Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) is missing from the official website following the nonpayment of dues and will be restored once the government makes the payment, clarified Wipro.

The official website, www.nrcassam.nic.in carried the complete details of Indian citizens of Assam and the final list of the NRC was uploaded on August 31, 2019. All the data has gone missing and as speculations continued to rise, Wipro, the company which provided cloud service, said that the services have been suspended for nonpayment of dues by the government.

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Benglauru-based Wipro revealed that the contract for the Assam NRC project, commissioned by the Registrar General of India and the Ministry of Home Affairs, expired in October 2019. But no payment was made for renewal.

Wipro issued a statement that read, “In 2014, Wipro Ltd was appointed as the System Integrator for the National Register of Citizenship (NRC) project in Assam after a rigorous tender process. The project was commissioned by the Registrar General of India and the Ministry of Home Affairs, and was monitored by the honourable Supreme Court of India.”

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It added, “As an IT services provider, Wipro was tasked with providing the technical architecture and technology solutions for the project. These services were provided in accordance with the terms of its contract with NRC and the same was monitored by the concerned authorities. The IT Services Contract was not renewed by the authorities upon its expiry in October, 2019.” However, Wipro as a gesture of goodwill, continued to pay the hosting service fee until January-end, 2020.

"They have quoted that the data went off due to non-payment of dues. However, Wipro has taken Rs 795 cr in the name of NRC. Thus, I feel they should clarify on the alleged reports of corruption performed under the supervision of the former Coordinator Prateek Hajela", Abhijit Sharma of the Assam Public Works, an NGO that has filed an FIR at the CID against Hajela for alleged instances of corruption, told Inside Northeast.

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