There is absolutely no link between NPR and NRC: Amit Shah

In an interview to newswire ANI, Home Minister Amit Shah sought to allay fears by categorically stating that there is no link between National Register of Citizens (NRIC) and National Population Register (NPR). His clarification comes amidst widespread protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 and general fear of nationwide implementation of National Register of Citizens.
Commenting further, Shah said the singular aim of National Population Register was to help the government to streamline development efforts and schemes by identifying the right beneficiary.

He said the names of people living in the country are in NPR based on which programmes are made. With West Bengal and Kerala having decided to put a stop to NPR exercise, Shah said there should not be politics over the exercise as it is aimed at benefiting citizens and for improving the planning of welfare schemes.

Shah's response comes after the cabinet, gave its approval for updation of the National Population Register (NPR) with no requirement by people to submit any document or biometrics to prove their identity, and conducting of census of India 2021.

The home minister’s statement comes two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a rally in Delhi that his government hadn’t discussed NRC, a verified digital register of citizens, in parliament or the cabinet.


In an appeal, Shah said, “My simple request to the two chief ministers is to reconsider this decision,” Shah told the news agency, insisting that their decision would hurt the poor who benefit from government schemes.

"There is no need to debate this (pan-India NRC) as there is no discussion on it right now, PM Modi was right, there is no discussion on it yet either in the Cabinet or Parliament," Amit Shah told news agency ANI.

Announcing the decision, Human Resource Development minister Prakash Javadekar said no proof will be sought from people during the process of NPR beginning April 2020.

What is NPR
The NPR is a register of residents of the country, prepared at the local (village/sub-town), sub-district, district, state and national level under the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, which was subsequently updated in 2015 by seeding it with Aadhaar.