The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has released its 2021-22 Annual Report on November 7, 2022 which states that the National Population Register (NPR) to include changes due to births, deaths and migration. needs to be updated again. So that demographic and other information of every family and person can be collected.
What is said in the report of the ministry?
The report said that the NPR has been prepared under various provisions of the Citizenship Rules, 2003 made under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said that in 2015, certain parts like name, gender, date of birth and place of birth, place of residence, father’s and mother’s name were updated and Aadhaar, mobile and ration card numbers were collected. This needs to be updated again, to include the changes due to birth, death and migration.
The NPR, which has a database of 115 crore residents, is to be updated with the first phase of the census. Although the process of census has not started yet, it has been postponed indefinitely due to Corona.
Opposition’s concern about NPR
There is a protest in the opposition-ruled state regarding NPR in the country because they believe that the information being taken under NPR is the first step under NRC.
Let us inform that the NPR was prepared for the first time in 2010 under the Citizenship Rules 2003 and was updated in 2015 by collecting the information of all the normal residents of the country.
At the same time, the central government has clarified on many occasions that there is no proposal regarding NRC so far.
The ministry said the NPR can be updated by the residents themselves as the web portal allows residents to update their data fields after following certain protocols.
CAA is not mentioned in the annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs
In the report released by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 7 November, the ministry has to give information about its achievements and works throughout the year, although the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is not mentioned anywhere in this report.
A citizenship law passed in 2019 that gives speedy citizenship to people from six non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh (who entered India before December 31, 2014) yet to be implemented Because the rules have not been framed yet.
The Ministry’s Annual Report 2020-21 had said that the CAA is a “compassionate and remedial law” that does not apply to Indian citizens and therefore does not take away or dilute the rights of any Indian citizen in any way.”
In addition, 2,439 Long Term Visas (LTVs) were granted by the Ministry of Home Affairs to some people belonging to minority communities from three neighboring countries between March-December 2021. Regarding this, the report said that “this includes visas from Pakistan (2,193), Afghanistan (237) and Bangladesh (9). Getting LTV means the first step towards getting Indian citizenship.
