Kerala says no to NPR, but will cooperate with Census

■ Cabinet in favour of cooperating with census operations

The Kerala Cabinet on Monday decided not to implement the National Population Register (NPR) in the state.

However, the state Cabinet decided to cooperate with Census operations and will ask enumerators to exclude two questions — date of birth of the respondents and details of their parents — from the Census questionnaire.

The state Cabinet meeting, presided over by CM Pinarayi Vijayan, decided to inform the registrar general and census commissioner under the MHA that the state government has no other option but to stay away from all activities related to National Population Register (NPR).

The Cabinet on Monday decided not to implement National Population Register (NPR) in Kerala. However, the Cabinet decided to cooperate with census operations.

It will ask enumerators to exclude two questions; date of birth of the respondents and details of their parents from the census questionnaire.

The Cabinet meeting presided over by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, a Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, decided to inform the Registrar General and Census Commissioner under Union home ministry that the government has no other option but to stay away from all activities related to the NPR.

“It is the constitutional responsibility of the government to allay the fears of the people and ensure law and order. These factors have prompted the government to take the decision,” the Cabinet said.

The Cabinet said NPR would lead to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and that is why there is huge fear and apprehension among people.

The government cited the example of Assam where the NRC has “created a huge problem”.

The government also stated that the state police department has warned that if it went ahead with implementation of the NPR, it would lead to law and order issues. The collectors have also pointed out that the NPR could adversely affect census operations.

The Cabinet pointed out that the state government had filed a suit under section 131 of Constitution seeking to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and NRC.