Non-BJP Ruled States Object NPR Methodology at MHA-Convened Meet

The objections by Rajasthan and a few other states were raised at a day-long conference convened by Home Ministry.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has asserted that there is no link between NPR and NRC.

(Image: Kamran Akhter/ The Quint)

A few non-BJP-ruled states on Friday, 17 January, raised objections over the new methodology to be adopted in the NPR exercise but the central government defended the steps saying certain answers to be given by people are not mandatory but voluntary.

The objections by Rajasthan and a few other states were raised at a day-long conference convened by the Union Home Ministry to discuss the modalities to be adopted during the house listing phase of the Census 2021 and the National Population Register to be carried out from April 1 to September 30, 2020.

Rajasthan Chief Secretary D B Gupta said he and the representatives of a few other states raised objections to a few questions to be asked by enumerators to people during the NPR exercise.

“We said certain questions in NPR are impractical, like questions related to the birth place of parents. There are many people in the country who even don’t know what was their birth place. I don’t know what is the purpose of such questions and we have told the meeting to remove such questions.”

D B Gupta, Rajasthan Chief Secretary

No Representative From West Bengal

During the meeting, presentations were given on the objectives of the census and the NPR exercises and their benefits.

Also, presentation was given on the use of mobile app, which will be used in the census for the first time in its history.

The conference was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai and attended by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, chief secretaries and census directors of many states.

A few states were represented by principal secretary, instead of the chief secretary. No official from the West Bengal government attended the meeting, an official said.

In his inaugural address, Rai put the emphasis on the need for conducting Census 2021 and the role of the states in doing the same.

He said the data collected in the census will help the country in framing policies for the welfare of the people.

The Union home secretary remarked on the vastness of this exercise and involvement of the state functionaries.

A few state governments, including West Bengal, have declared that they will not participate in the NPR exercise now as it is prelude to a country-wide National Register of Citizens.

Officials said the objective of NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country.

What We Know About NPR

The NPR is a register of usual residents of the country. It is being prepared at the local (village/sub-town), subdistrict, district, state and national levels under provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.

The rules have a provision for fine of up to Rs 1,000 on those violating it.  The data for NPR was last collected in 2010 along with the house listing phase of the Census 2011. Updating of this data was done during 2015 by conducting door to door survey.

While updating the register in 2015, the government has asked details like Aadhaar and their mobile number.

This time, the information related to their driving licence and voter ID card may also be gathered, the officials said, adding that PAN card details will not be collected as part of this exercise.

For the purposes of the NPR, a usual resident is defined as a person who has resided in a local area for the past six months or more, or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months.

The law compulsorily seeks to register every citizen of India and issue a national identity card.