The Hindu, in a query filed under the RTI Act, sought information on the expected date of the first phase of the 2021 Census and an update from the NPR.
The Registrar General of India (RGI) office has said that the National Population Register (NPR) calendar or questionnaire is “being finalized” and that information on the expected date of the first phase of the 2021 Census “is not available. “.
RGI’s response was in response to a question submitted by The Hindu under the Right to Information Act (RTI) seeking information on the expected date of the first phase of the 2021 Census and an update of the NPR that was scheduled to begin on April 1, 2020. The exercise was postponed indefinitely until new orders on March 25 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Hindu explains | What connects the NPR, NRIC and the census?
The NPR update and the first phase of home census and home census listing would take place simultaneously from April to September. Although the twins exercise was to be implemented first in the Meghalaya, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area on April 1, the RGI said in RTI’s response on April 17. November that “the NPR schedule is being finalized.”
Up to 13 states and Union territories have opposed the NPR update because of its link to the proposed National Citizens Registry (NRC) and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Under the Citizenship Rules framed in 2003, the NPR is the first step towards compiling the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) or NRC. The NPR was first compiled in 2010 and then updated in 2015. Some states, such as West Bengal and Rajasthan, have objected to additional questions being asked in the new NPR, such as “father’s date and place of birth and the mother, last place of residence and mother tongue ”.
Fears for CAA
The CAA passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019, allows citizenship on the 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 citizen registry, while excluded Muslims will have to prove their citizenship. The government has denied that the CAA and the NRC are linked.
Understanding the 2019 Citizenship (Amendment) Bill
In a response from RTI in March, AK Samal, Assistant Secretary General, said that the process related to the 2021 Census was evolving and that disclosure may create confusion in the field and hamper the work of the nationally important census. “Therefore, these are not provided in Section 8 (1) of the RTI Act of 2005,” he stated.
Article 8 (1) of the Act prohibits the provision of any information whose “disclosure may adversely affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, the relationship with a foreign State or give rise to incitement to an offense “.
The Hindu had requested the “details of the Chief Secretaries and Administrator of State / UT Conference hosted by the Secretary General of India (RGI) and the Census Commissioner in New Delhi on January 17, 2020” and requested a copy of the minutes of the meeting . Mr. Samal responded that no conference proceedings have been prepared and that the presentations were prepared for internal use and deliberations on the preparation of the 2021 Census.
21 parameters
In 2019, the “preliminary test” or the NPR test form collected details from 30 lakh of respondents at the end of 21 parameters, looking for specific details about the “father and mother’s place of birth, last place of residence” along with other information such as Aadhar (optional), voter identification card, mobile phone number and driver’s license. In 2010 and 2015, NPR collected details on 14 parameters.
The Home Office (MHA) informed a parliamentary panel earlier this year that the NPR needed to be updated to “incorporate changes due to birth, death and migration” and “Aadhaar is individual data, while NPR contains family data” . The MHA informed the panel that it proposes to collect details on additional questions such as “parental date and place of birth” in the NPR to “facilitate background data processing and make date and place of birth data complete for all the homes[s]”.
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