NATIONAL POPULATION REGISTER (NPR)

1. Context

2. What is the National Population Register (NPR)?

• The NPR is a register of the usual residents of the country. It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR. It includes both Indian citizens as well as foreign citizens.
• The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country.
• The first National Population Register was prepared in 2010 and updating this data was done in 2015 by conducting door-to-door surveys.
• The next update of the NPR will take place next year from April to September with the House listing phase of the Census 2021.
• It is being prepared at the local (Village/sub-Town), sub-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.

3. What is the meaning of usual Resident?

4. What is Census?

• The Census is the enumeration of the population of the country.  It is being conducted at an interval of 10 years.
• The Census 2021 will be the 16th census in the country since the first census happened in 1872.
• However, it will be the 8th census after the Independence. For the first time, the Census 2021 will use the Mobile App for data collection.
• It will also provide a facility to the public for self-enumeration. 

5. What is the difference between NPR and NRC?

• The NPR is different from the National Register of Citizens which excludes foreign citizens.
• According to the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, notified on December 10, 2003, a Population Register is ‘the register containing details of persons usually residing in a village or rural area or town or ward or demarcated area (demarcated by the Registrar General of Citizen Registration) within a ward in a town or urban area.
• Whereas, the ‘National Register of Indian Citizens’ is a register containing details of Indian Citizens living in India and outside India.
• The rules further say that ‘The National Register of Indian Citizens shall contain the particulars of every citizen i.e. Name; Father’s name; Mother’s name; Sex; Date of birth; Place of birth; Residential address (present and permanent); Marital status if ever married, name of the spouse; Visible identification mark; Date of registration of Citizen; Serial number of registration; and National Identity Number. 

6. What is the link between NPR and NRC?

• According to the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, notified on December 10, 2003, The Central Government may, by an order issued in this regard, decide a date by which the Population Register shall be prepared by collecting information relating to all persons who are usually residing within the jurisdiction of Local Registrar.
• The Local Register of Indian Citizens shall contain details of persons after due verification made from the Population Register. 

7. What makes NPR Controversial?

• Another debate has been about privacy. The NPR intends to collect many details of personal data on residents.
• The NPR is among a host of identity databases such as Aadhaar, voter cards, passports, and more than Home Minister Shah said he would like to see combined into one card. “We will have to end all these separate exercises,” Shah said at the foundation stone laying ceremony for the new Office of Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner on September 24.

8. If there was a previous NPR, how and when did the idea originate?

• At that time, it had clashed with Aadhaar (UIDAI) over which project would be best suited for transferring government benefits to citizens.
• The Home Ministry then pushed NPR as a better vehicle because it connected every NPR-recorded resident to a household through the Census.
• The ministry pushed even put the UIDAI project on the back burner. The data for NPR was first collected in 2010 along with the house-listing phase of Census 2011. In 2015, this data was updated by conducting door-to-door surveys.
• However, with the NDA government picking out Aadhaar as the key vehicle for the transfer of government benefits in 2016 and putting its weight behind it, NPR took a backseat.
• It was through a notification on August 3 by the RGI that the idea has been revived. The exercise to update the 2015 NPR with additional data has begun.
• The digitization of updated information has been completed. 

9. What kind of data will be collected?

• Aadhaar Number (voluntary)
• Mobile Number
• Date & Place of Birth of Parents
• Place of Last Residence
• Passport Number (if Indian passport holder)
• Voter ID Card Number
• Permanent Account Number
• Driving Licence Number

10. Why does the government want so much data?

• While there are concerns about privacy, the government's position is based on two grounds. One is that every country must have a comprehensive identity database of its residents with demographic details.
• In its statement issued after Cabinet approval to NPR, the Home Ministry said the objective of conducting NPR is to “prepare a credible register of every family and individual” living in the country apart from “strengthening security” and “improvement in the targeting of beneficiaries under various Central government schemes”.
• The second ground, largely to justify the collection of data such as driving license, voter ID, and PAN, is that it will ease the life of those residing in India by cutting red tape.
• It is common to find different dates of birth of a person on different government documents. NPR will help eliminate that. With NPR data, residents will not have to furnish various proofs of age, address, and other details in official work. It would also eliminate duplication in voter lists.
• However, insist that NPR information is confidential, meaning it will not be shared with third parties.
• There is as yet no clarity on the mechanism for the protection of this vast amount of data that the government plans to collect.

11. What does one make of the defiance of West Bengal and Kerala?

• These Opposition-ruled states are making a political point. Citizenship, aliens, and naturalization are subject matters listed in List 1 of the Seventh Schedule that fall exclusively under the domain of Parliament.
• Legally, the states have no say in implementing or ruling out NPR. However, given that the manpower is drawn from the states, the defiance could potentially result in a showdown.