National Population Register (NPR)
#GS-02 Governance
For Prelims:
About National Population Register (NPR):
- The National Population Register (NPR) is a Register containing details of persons usually residing in a village or rural area or town or ward or demarcated area within a ward in a town or urban area.
- NPR was first prepared in 2010 and updated in 2015 under Sub-rule (4) of Rule 3 of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, framed under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
- Section 14A was inserted in the Citizenship Act, 1955, in 2004, providing for the compulsory registration of every citizen of India and the issue of a “national identity card” to him or her.
- The exercise is carried out under the supervision of Registrar General and ex-Officio Census Commissioner, India.
- The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive database of usual residents in the country.
- No document will be collected during this exercise.
The Data collected during NPR:
The demographic details of every individual are required for every usual resident such as:
- name,
- relationship to the head of the household,
- father’s name, mother’s name, spouse’s name (if married),
- sex,
- date of birth,
- marital status,
- place of birth,
- nationality (as declared),
- present address of usual residence,
- duration of stay at the present address,
- permanent residential address,
- occupation, and
- educational qualification.
For Mains:
The Advantages of NPR:
- A streamlined data about the residents of the country will help the Government and other authorities to create a target plan and develop strategies accordingly.
- NPR makes a registry of citizens which will help in identifying illegals and saboteurs hiding in the country.
- The comprehensive list will benefit local self-government bodies since they often lack funding to carry out such a door-to-door survey.
The Concerns about NPR:
- The collection of such comprehensive data raises concerns about individual privacy.
- NPR is seen by some as a precursor to National Registry of Citizens (NRC), which many view as problematic.
Source “NPR needs to be updated again to incorporate changes due to birth, death, migration: Centre“
