With the ongoing debate and protests over National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), Congress leader P Chidambaram describing the NPR process as a “disguised” NRC exercise, on Saturday said his party would not allow the NPR to be rolled out on April 1.

He alleged that the BJP-led NDA government “changed gear” after the NRC “fiasco” in Assam and announced they wouldn’t go for the NRC, but carry out the NPR exercise.

“As far as we are concerned, NPR is a disguised NRC. And we will not agree to the NPR being rolled out on April 1,” said the former Union minister, who was in the state to conduct a leadership training camp where he explained the implications of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and NPR.

Chidambaram hoped the state party leaders would take the campaign forward to all parts of Bengal and explain to the people “the sinister purpose of the CAA, the mischief behind the NPR and mobilise public opinion against CAA”.

The Congress had earlier as well accused the BJP government of bringing the NRC in the garb of the NPR and claimed that questions related to the NRC will be asked in the pre-test forms for the NPR.

Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 24, 2019,  approved Rs 8,500 crore for updating the National Population Register (NPR), which is said to be the first step in implementing the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The Government has been preparing for the National Population Register (NPR) amid the ongoing protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Under the NPR, a census will be conducted from house to house across the country from April 1, 2020, to September 30, 2020, in all the states/union territories, except Assam. Its aim is to create a database of the comprehensive identity of common residents of the country. This data will also contain biometric information along with demographics.

The NPR is a list of “usual residents” of the country. A “usual resident” is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past six months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months or more.

The NPR initiative started in 2010 under the Manmohan Singh government.
The data was updated in 2015 by conducting a door-to-door survey. The digitisation of the updated information has been completed.

While, amid nationwide tensions and consequent protests against the Citizenship Act, the West Bengal and Kerala governments have reportedly stopped work on NPR.

Protests against CAA that were earlier confined to the northeast, had swept the country last month in December after several protesters, including students clashed with the police in Delhi’s Jamia Milia Islamia on December 15, 2019 and later at JNU.

The CAA seeks to provide citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have faced religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and have arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014.