Online Fillings of National Population Register (NPR)

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The Centre will allow residents to fill columns in the National Population Register (NPR) forms on their own through online mode.

Key Points

• The demographic and other particulars of each family and individual are to be collected/ updated during the updation exercise of NPR.
  • No documents or biometrics would be collected during the renewal of NPR.
• The Registrar General of India (RGI) is presently conducting field trials of the first phase of the Census and the NPR through the mobile application in one block each, comprising 50-60 households, in all the States and Union Territories.
  • The first phase of the decennial Census exercise — the House listing and Housing Census along with updating the NPR was scheduled to be held from April 1, 2020.

• •  It was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is unlikely to be held this year.
• The second and main phase of the Census — the population enumeration — was to be concluded by March 5 this year.
  • Residents were to be given an option to self enumerate only in the second phase (the population enumeration).

About National Population Register

• It is a Register of usual residents of the country.
• It is being prepared at the local (Village/sub-Town), sub-District, District, State and National level under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
•  It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR.
  • A usual resident is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more.
• The Registrar General India shall act as the “National Registration Authority”, it is also the country’s Census Commissioner.
• NPR was first done in 2010 and was later updated in 2015 when it was linked with Aadhar.

Objective

• To create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country. The database would contain demographic as well as biometric particulars.

Significance

• NPR data helps identify the demographics of actual residents who will be direct beneficiaries of any schemes launched in the area.
  • The NPR data will help the government design and adapt schemes like Ayushman Bharat, Jandhan Yojna, or medium of instruction in schools as per the current demographics, thus making the schemes more effective.

Difference between

NPR and NRC

• The National Population Register is a database of people living in India including foreign citizens, but the National Register of Citizens is a database of Indian citizens.
  • The NRC process demands proof of citizenship from the respondents. Those who are found without the proof may face deportation or detention in the long run.
    • However, in NPR, there is no need to provide any documentation.

NPR and the Census

• The process of NPR and Census will begin simultaneously, the two databases are not the same.
  • The decennial census is the largest single source of a variety of statistical information on different characteristics of the people of India.
  • While NPR only contains demographic information, more details are required for census like information on demography, economic activity, literacy and education, and housing and household amenities among others.

Source :TH