Topics Covered: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
National Population Register:
Context:
The Centre is planning to allow residents to fill the National Population Register (NPR) form on their own, through the online mode, a month before the door-to-door enumeration by Census officials starts.
The plan:
- After filling the form online, residents will get a reference code that they can mention to the field enumerator at the time of her or his visit.
- The details of the respondent will be displayed on a mobile application developed for conducting the Census exercise but no “biometrics or documents” will be collected. These details will then be stored in the system.
What is National Population Register (NPR)?
It is a Register of usual residents of the country.
- It is being prepared at the local (Village/sub-Town), sub-District, District, State and National level under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
- It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR.
Objective: To create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country.
The NPR was first collected in 2010 and then updated in 2015.
Who is a usual resident?
A usual resident is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- Constitutional provisions related to Citizenship.
- Components of NPR data.
- Who is an usual resident?
- Who prepares NPR?
- How can a person acquire Indian citizenship?
- Can an Indian citizen hold dual citizenship?
- About RGI.
Mains Link:
Why are states opposed to the collection of data under NPR. Discuss.
Sources: the Hindu.