Won’t implement NPR as people are afraid: Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala government on Monday cited a sense of fear among the people while reiterating it will not implement the exercise to update the National Population Register (NPR) in the state even as it will cooperate with the Census operations. “A sense of fear has gripped the people. It is the government’s duty to help people come out of this fear and also maintain the law and order in the state. If the NPR and National Register of Citizens [NRC] are implemented, it will vitiate the atmosphere. That is why the state government took this decision,” a press release from chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office said. It said the NPR will pave way for the NRC’S implementation.

The statement said the state police chief has also given a report that the implementation of the NPR will vitiate the atmosphere. “District collectors have also informed the government that it was difficult to carry out Census procedures if mixed with the NPR.”

The NPR, which will be updated from April 2020 along with the house listing exercise for the Census, is a comprehensive biometric database of all “usual residents”. The Census is a database of households.

The NPR has generated controversy as Opposition parties have contended that the exercise is linked to the National Register for Indian Citizens (NRIC) aimed at identifying illegal immigrants. West Bengal, too, has announced it will not participate in the NPR exercise. The government has in the past described the NPR as the first step towards NRC. It now maintains that there is no link between the two and that an all-india NRC is not immediately on the anvil in the backdrop of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

BJP CMS, UNION MINISTERS TO SPREAD PROCAA MESSAGE

NEWDELHI:BJP has stepped up its efforts to counter the opposition’s narrative about the CAA and the proposed NRC that these could potentially target minorities in the country and are discriminatory. The party has instructed chief ministers of all Bjp-ruled states and Union ministers to undertake campaigns for challenging the opposition’s narrative.

(With inputs from Delhi)