A budget of Rs 3941 crore has been approved for updating the National Population Register.
The Union Home Ministry has stated the need to update the National Population Register (NPR). It has been said to be done in the whole country except the state of Assam. This information has been given in the annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Through this, changes in demographic data due to birth, death and migration in the country can be monitored. Not only this, information related to every family and every person can also be recorded. The annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs states that due to the Kovid-19 epidemic, the work of updating the NPR and other field activities had come to a halt.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has told that people can update the NPR data themselves. No documents or biometrics will be collected during updation. The Central Government has approved a budget of Rs.3941 crore for this. The Home Ministry report states that the NPR has been prepared under various provisions of the Citizenship Rules, 2003 made under the Citizenship Act, 1955. In 2015, the name, gender, date of birth and place of birth, place of residence and father’s and mother’s name were updated and Aadhaar, mobile and ration card numbers were collected. At the same time, the ministry said that it needs to be updated again, to include the changes due to birth, death and migration.
It may be noted that the NPR was prepared for the first time in the year 2010 and was updated in 2015. Then it was opposed by many opposition parties and said that it is a step towards making National Register of Citizens (NRC). However, the central government had clarified that it has nothing to do with the NRC.
According to the report of the Ministry of Home Affairs, from April 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, 1414 people across the country have been given certificates of citizenship under the Citizenship Act, 1955. The Ministry of Home Affairs also informed that the District Magistrates of 29 districts and Home Secretaries of 9 states have been empowered by the government to invite people from the Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian and Parsi communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. To be given Indian citizenship after investigation. PLC/GT
