National Population Register : Important Topics For UPSC Exams

National Population Register (NPR) : Important Topics For UPSC Exams

What is National Population Register?

NPR is a register of natural residents residing in India. It is prepared at gram panchayat, tehsil, state and national levels. This register is prepared under the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and Citizenship Rules, 2003.
If you give wrong information under NPR, then you will have to pay penalty under Citizenship Rules, 2003.
NPR is a common register of people living in India. The data collected under this will be sent to UIDAI for re-duplication and issuance of Aadhaar number. This register will include three main things - Demographic data, Biometric data and Aadhaar number.
In 2010, the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh took the initiative to form NPR. After this, work on this started before the 2011 census. Now that the census is to be held again in the year 2021, work on NPR will be resumed.
The Union Home Ministry said in a gazette notification that the law will come into effect from January 10, under which non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship. The notification states, "The Central Government exercising the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of Section 1 of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (47 of 2019), on 10 January 2020, the provisions of the said Act come into effect. Decides as to the date. "The revised citizenship law was passed by Parliament on 11 December.

Objectives of National Population Register

The purpose of this is to create a database based on the complete identity and other information of every resident of the country. The government uses this to formulate its plans, prevent fraud and extend the benefit of schemes to every family.

How is the National Population Register prepared?

The Citizenship Act, 1955 was amended in 2004, under which provisions of the National Population Register were added. Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 sets out these provisions.
The Central Government can issue a national identity card by compulsory registration of every citizen of the country. The government can prepare the register of every citizen of the country and a National Registration Authority can also be set up for this. Any person who has been living in any area of the country for more than six months or intends to stay for the next six months will be registered as a common resident.

What information will be recorded in the National Population Register?

In the National Population Register, the person's name, relationship with the head of the family, father's name, mother's name, wife or husband's name (if married), gender, date of birth, current address, nationality, permanent address, occupation and biometric details It will be included. Only those over 5 years of age will be included.

Conclusion

Under CAA law, minorities from neighboring countries will easily get citizenship of India. They have to spend at least 6 years here to get citizenship. First it was decided to spend at least 11 years to get citizenship. Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh , Jain and Buddhist people who had entered India by the decisive date of 31 December 2014. All of them can apply for citizenship of India. If the OCI card holders violate the rules, the center will have the right to cancel their card. The OCI card is a card given to Indians permanently settled abroad.

UPSC preliminary examination

Q.1. Which of the following statements about the National Population Register (NATIONAL POPULATION REGISTER) is true?

1. This scheme started in 2010 during the rule of Prime Minister Modi.
2. According to the 2004 amendment to the Citizenship Act, it is mandatory for any citizen to register in the NPR under section 14.
3. There will be a nationwide census to prepare a data base of citizens from 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020 under the National Population Register.

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Both 2 and 3

ANS. (d)