After Bengal, Kerala govt puts NPR on hold

Syllabus subtopic: Role of women and women's organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.

Prelims and Mains focus: about National Population Register (NPR), its significance and the controversy around it

News: THE CPI(M)-led government in Kerala on Friday ordered a ‘stay (on) all the activities connected with the updation of National Population Register (NPR) in the state forthwith’.

Earlier this week, the TMC government in West Bengal had put on hold the NPR updation process amid fears that it was the ‘first step’ to the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Citing similar fears, the order in Kerala, issued by the General Administration Department, said the decision was taken ‘considering the apprehension among the general public about the conduct of National Population Register-related activities lead(ing) to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the wake of the Citizenship Amendment Act.’

About National Population Register (NPR):

It is a Register of usual residents of the country.
It is being prepared at the local (Village/sub-Town), sub-District, District, State and National level under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR.
Definition: A usual resident is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more.
The NPR database would contain demographic as well as biometric details.
As per the provisions of the NPR, a resident identity card (RIC) will be issued to individuals over the age of 18. This will be a chip-embedded smart card containing the demographic and biometric attributes of each individual. The UID number will also be printed on the card.

Objectives:

The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country. The database would contain demographic as well as biometric particulars.

The NPR updation is to be done across India (except Assam) from April 1, 2020 to September 30, 2020, along with the next Census enumeration.
The first phase of Census operations, which includes house listing, house census and updation of NPR, was slated to take place in April-May next year.

Source: Indian Express

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