MHA dismisses report that Assam has been placed under protected area category

New Delhi: The Home Ministry on Wednesday refuted a media report which stated that Assam has been placed under protected area category following an uproar in the state on National Register of Citizens (NRC) and that foreign journalists have been asked to leave the state.

The ministry said that no Protected Area Permit (PAP) or Restricted Area Permit (RAP) has been issued in Assam adding that any foreign journalist can visit the state after taking the permission of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

"Any foreign journalist, whether already based in India or not, can visit Assam after taking the permission of MEA. MHA is consulted internally by MEA before issuing this permission. There is no PAP or RAP area in the state of Assam. Thus no PAP or RAP is needed by a foreign journalist," MHA Spokesperson tweeted from department's official Twitter handle.

The report stated that all foreign journalists working in Assam have been asked to leave the state.

However, the ministry dismissed the report saying that the information was "misleading" and "incorrect".

"The information provided in this article is misleading and incorrect. Neither MHA nor MEA has given any information as mentioned. The responsibility of publication of such information, and consequences thereof lie entirely with the media house concerned," the Spokesperson tweeted.

In the final list of NRC published on August 31, a total of more than 3 crores people were found eligible for inclusion in the list while over 19 lakh people were excluded.

NRC is a register containing names of Indian citizens, which was prepared for the only time in 1951. It is being updated for Assam as of now to weed out illegal immigrants.