Government Confirms No Decision Taken to Update National Population Register
The central government has informed the Lok Sabha that it has not taken any decision to update the National Population Register (NPR). Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai stated that while the government has notified its intent to conduct the next Census, which will include caste enumeration, the controversial NPR update is not currently planned. The clarification comes after years of debate and protests over the NPR's potential links to a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Unpacked:
The NPR is a register of all usual residents of India, collecting demographic and some biometric data. The Census, meanwhile, is a decadal exercise that counts the population and gathers socio-economic data. While both involve household visits, the Census is for statistical purposes, whereas the NPR can be linked to citizenship verification processes.
The NPR is controversial because data collected can be used to identify individuals for the NRC, which is a register of citizens. Critics argue this could potentially render some residents stateless, especially minorities, and has led to protests and states halting NPR exercises over fears of exclusion.
Currently, the NRC has only been implemented in Assam, where it resulted in 1.9 million residents being left off the register. While the BJP has advocated for a nationwide NRC, no official decision or timeline has been announced for its implementation elsewhere in India.
Proposed changes in the NPR included new, more detailed questions—such as parents’ birthplaces and Aadhaar numbers—which raised fears of increased scrutiny and exclusion. Several states opposed these additions, insisting on conducting the NPR only in its earlier, less intrusive 2011 format.