NEW DELHI : Centre prepares to bring to table the States in dissent over Centre’s NPR. The decision has been for Registrar General of Census to hold talks with States including Kerala, who refused to toe the line, on carrying out NPR surveys, given its suspected link to the ominous NRC and CAA.
The meetings are aimed at removing fears that States have expressed in context of National Population Register (NPR), sources indicated. NPR Census has to be carried out beginning April and conclude by September. However States including Kerala have sounded a loud ‘no’ to the exercise., prompting Centre to initiate meetings to meet its goal.
The Census Commissioner who also doubles up as Census Registrar General is in charge of countrywide Census and NPR surveys, hence the move to have him helm the talks State talks.
Kerala is first among States in the country to have opposed NRC and CAA vehemently and made a leap getting its Assembly to pass a resolution - backed by its ruling and opposition parties - stating that National Register of Citizens(NRC) shall not be surveyed for in Kerala nor CAA implemented. Close on the heels of this legislative move, States of West Bengal, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Punjab and the Union Territtory of Puducherry, also passed similar resolution.
The first phase of NPR is to take off on 1 April and data therein is to be compiled by 30 September. Following strong protest, controversial questions such as place of birth of one’s parents etc were dropped by the Centre as mandatory items in the NPR questionnaire.
