National Population Register (NPR)

• The National Population Register (NPR) database has to be updated nationwide, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• Demographic information about each family and person has to be gathered in order to account for changes brought on by birth, death, and migration.

Describe NPR.

• NPR is a database that has a list of all regular citizens of the nation.
• For the purposes of NPR, a person who has lived somewhere for at least six months and plans to stay another six is referred to as a typical resident.
• Its goal is to compile a thorough identity database of everyone who lives in the nation.
• During the Census' "house-listing" phase, it is produced through house-to-house enumeration.
• In 2010, the NPR was originally compiled, and it was then revised in 2015.

Legal Support:

• The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003 and the Citizenship Act of 1955's requirements govern the creation of the NPR.
• Every "usual resident of India" is required to register with the NPR.

Importance:

• It will harmonize resident data on diverse systems.
• For instance, it is typical to see a person's birthdate differ on various government documents. NPR will assist in removing that.
• It will improve policy formulation for the government and benefit national security.
• In a manner similar to how Aadhaar has helped, it will aid in better targeting of government recipients and further reduce paperwork and red tape.
• It will assist in putting into practice the government's newly proposed "One Identity Card" plan.
• Aadhaar cards, voter ID cards, banking cards, passports, and other forms of segregated paperwork are all intended to be replaced by the "One Identity Card."

NRC and NPR

• NPR is the first step toward compiling a National Register of Citizens, according to Citizenship Rules 2003. (NRC). A national NRC could proceed to validate the citizens from that list when a list of residents (i.e., NPR) has been generated
• The NPR, in contrast to the NRC, does not serve as a citizenship enumeration campaign because it keeps track of foreign residents who stay in a community for more than six months.

About The National Register of Citizens:

• The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a register created after the Census of 1951 was conducted in respect of each village, showing the houses or holdings in serial order and noting next to each one the number and names of people residing there.

• The NRC was only ever published once, in 1951, and it hasn't been updated for the entire country since.
• For the time being, it has only been updated in Assam, but the government intends to update it nationally as well.

What distinguishes the NPR from the Census?

• The purpose of the census is to gather information about each individual, including age, sex, marital status, number of children, occupation, place of birth, mother tongue, religion, disability, and membership in any Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes. In the 2011 census, there were 29 items to be filled out.
• On the other hand, the NPR gathers basic biometric and demographic information.
• The Census Act of 1948 provides the census with legal support.
• A procedure known as the NPR is described in a set of regulations created under the Citizenship Act of 1955.

About The Citizenship Act of 1955:

• The Citizenship Act of 1955 outlines a number of ways to become a citizen.
• It includes provisions for citizenship by birth, descent, registration, naturalization, and merger into India of a region.
• Additionally, it controls how Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders are registered and what rights they have.
• An OCI is qualified for a number of privileges, including a multiple-entry, multipurpose visa good for life.

CAA 2019

• The Citizenship Act of 1955 was amended in 2019 by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
• Six undocumented non-Muslim populations (Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians) from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who entered India on or before December 31, 2014 are granted citizenship based on their religion.
• It shields the citizens of the six groups from prosecution under the Passport Act of 1920 and the Foreigners Act of 1946.