New Delhi: The centre has decided to finalise the National Population Register (NPR) by September next year. It is believed that once the NPR is finalised, it would form the basis for preparing the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) which would be similar to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) being prepared in Assam.
As per the NPR, a resident is a person who has been living in a particular locality for the last six months and who plans to continue living in that area for the next six months. The NPR is a register of usual residents of the country.
A notification issued by Vivek Joshi, Registrar General of Citizen Registration and Census Commissioner states: “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.’’
The NPR is generally prepared at different levels like local which comprises of a village or sub-town, sub-district, district, state and national level according to provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. Thus it is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR.
The main purpose of the NPR is to have an elaborate record or database of every resident in the country. This database comprises of both demographic as well as biometric particulars. The draft NRC in Assam had led to a controversy since names of almost 40 lakh people were left out.
Further names of over a lakh people were also left out in the list published last month.
The final list of the NRC in Assam will be published on August 31.
During his customary address on June 20 following the constitution of the 17th Lok Sabha President Ram Nath Kovind while elaborating on the priorities of the Modi Government in the days ahead had stated,`My government has decided to implement the process of National Register of Citizens on priority basis in areas affected by infiltration.’’ Assam has been excluded from the NPR exercise since the process of the NRC is already going on in the State. The draft NRC in Assam had led to a controversy since names of almost 40 lakh people were left out. Further names of over a lakh people were also left out in the list published last month. The final list of the NRC in Assam will be published on August 31.
