Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the process for enlisting the names of Indian citizens under the National Register of Census (NRC) have already begun. 

"The process to register the names of all genuine Indian nationals in the NRC will take about two years' time," the chief minister told journalists in Assam's main city of Guwahati.

"This will be a step forward in dispelling doubts about the presence of illegal foreigners and also help in detecting and deporting any Bangladeshi migrants in the state, if any."

Gogoi said anybody who had entered Assam, including those from Bangladesh, as on March 25, 1971, would be listed as Indian citizens.

"The state's electoral rolls will help in preparing the NRC and if there are doubtful claims for citizenship, such cases will be referred to a tribunal that will decide if such a person or persons are Indian nationals or not," Gogoi said. 

Assam is currently witnessing a massive anti-foreigners campaign with thousands of people thought to be Bengali-speaking migrant workers fleeing their workplaces from at least a dozen towns and cities after an unidentified group distributed leaflets asking them to leave or face action. 

The group has also stuffed leaflets through letterboxes and sent messages on mobile phones telling people not to employ "illegal foreigners". Many of these Bengali workers were engaged in brick kilns and pedal rickshaws in Assam, besides doing menial jobs.

Assam had ordered a probe to ascertain if the fleeing workers were actually Bangladeshi migrants and also asked police to be on alert to prevent an outbreak of communal clashes in the state. 

"We are committed to identifying any illegal foreigners in the state and hence decided to expedite the process of updating the NRC," the chief minister said.

Assam shares a 272-km border with Bangladesh, much of it unfenced, and Indian officials often claim that large-scale infiltrations threaten the region's demographic profile. There are no official estimates for the number of migrants in Assam.

Dhaka denies allegations that it encourages people to enter India illegally, and the volatile issue has often sparked violent clashes between border guards on both sides.