Kerala, Bengal make it official: Say no to NPR

New Delhi, Jan 16: Kerala and West Bengal have communicated to the Registrar General to put on hold the exercise of the National Population Register (NPR). The Registrar General has received the communication, two weeks after both the state governments had said that the NPR would not be implemented.

The states had written to their respective district magistrates saying that this process would be detrimental to public and hence the same be put on hold, a Home Ministry source confirmed to OneIndia. The source, however, added that the Home Ministry has no reason to believe that these states would not cooperate. The manpower for such an exercise is drawn from the states.

The official said that states do not have the powers to stall such a move. Citizenship falls under the union list under the Constitution of India. Moreover, it is an exercise that benefits the state. The official also said that when a similar exercise took place in 2010 and 2015, these states had taken part in it and West Bengal, in particular, had used the NPR for ration cards.

In the new NPR form, the Registrar General of India has asked for Aadhaar number, driving licence number, Voter ID details, mother tongue and place of birth of parents.