Cabinet approves proposal to update National Population Register; exercise to be held between April and September 2020

The Union Cabinet approved a proposal to update the National Population Register (NPR) on Tuesday, according to reports, even as several states, including West Bengal, Punjab and Kerala opposed its implementation.

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Allocation of financial resources to the tune of Rs 8,500 crore to update the NPR received a nod, even as protests are being witnessed in various parts of India over the amended Citizenship Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

According to the Census Commission, the objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity, which will include the demographic and biometric details, of every “usual resident” of India who has lived a particular area for at least six months. It is mandatory for every “usual resident” of India to be registered in the NPR.

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According to NDTV, the NPR exercise will be held between April and September 2020 in all states and Union Territories, except Assam where the National Register of Citizens exercise to identify illegal migrants has already been conducted.

The NPR exercise was first conducted in 2010 along with the house-listing phase of the 2011 Census and it was first updated in 2015 with door-to-door surveys.

With the digitisation of data completed, the next step is to update the NPR on the local (village/sub-town), sub-district, district, state and national level along with the house-listing phase of Census 2021, officials told NDTV. Data will be updated under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.

A gazette notification to this effect was issued in August this year.

"In pursuance of sub-rule(4) of rule 3 of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, the central government hereby decides to prepare and update the Population Register and the field work for house to house enumeration throughout the country except Assam for collection of information relating to all persons who are usually residing within the jurisdiction of Local Registrar shall be undertaken between the 1st day of April, 2020 to 30th September, 2020," said the notification.

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West Bengal and Kerala stopped the NPR exercise, over a week after the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 was passed by both Houses of the Parliament. "After considering the concerns raised in the wake of the 2019 amendment in the Citizenship Act, the state government has decided not to cooperate with the process to update the NPR to facilitate the preparation of the NRC," Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

With inputs from PTI