NPR form with contentious queries on citizenship disappears from Census website
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New Delhi: Controversial document with the latest form of the National Population Register (NPR) which had retained contentious questions such as the "mother tongue, place of birth of father and mother, and last place of residence," has been pulled down from the website of The Registrar General of India (RGI).
RGI which comes under the Union Home Ministry had earlier published a handbook, titled 'Census of India 2021 Handbook' for Principal/District Census Officers and Charge Officers which was shared with all states.
The NPR schedule (form) generated through an online system on August 18 was part of the handbook. The handbook now has been removed from the website- censusindia.gov.in., reports The Hindu.
Quoting a Home Ministry official on Friday, The Hindu reported that the NPR proforma is yet to be finalised.
NPR which is the first step towards the compilation of the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) or NRC was first compiled in 2010 and updated in 2015. The controversial questions were part of a trial exercise involving 30 lakh respondents in September 2019.
The compilation of NPR data has been opposed by some States and citizen groups due to its link with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the yet to be implemented Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The updating of NPR and the first phase of the Census — the House listing & Housing Census were to be conducted simultaneously from April-September 2020 but the exercise was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. New dates have not been announced yet.
The CAA passed by the Parliament on December 11, 2019, allows citizenship on basis of religion to six undocumented communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. There are apprehensions and fears that the CAA followed by a country-wide NRC will benefit non-Muslims excluded from the proposed citizens' register, while excluded Muslims will have to prove their citizenship. The government has denied that CAA and NRC are linked and that there are currently no plans to compile a countrywide NRC.
