The Home Ministry in its latest annual report has underlined the need to update the National Population Register (NPR) database across the country, except Assam.

What did the MHA say?

• The report said the NPR is prepared under various provisions of the Citizenship Rules, 2003, framed under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
• In 2015, a few fields such as name, gender, date and place of birth, place of residence and father’s and mother’s name were updated and Aadhaar, mobile and ration card numbers were collected.
• To incorporate the changes due to birth, death and migration, the MHA pressed the need to update it again.

What is National Population Register (NPR)?

• The NPR 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.
• This is carried under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship Rules, 2003 (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards).
• 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.

Why NPR is under fire?

• Though NPR was first compiled in 2010 and updated in 2015, the new questions were part of a trial exercise involving 30 lakh respondents in September 2019.
• The exercise has perceived the first step toward the compilation of the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) according to Citizenship Rules, 2003.

How are NRIC and NPR related?

• Out of the NPR, a set of all usual residents of India, the government proposes to create a database of “citizens of India”.
• Thus, the “National Register of Indian Citizens” (NRIC) is a sub-set of the NPR.
• The NRIC will be prepared at the local, sub-district, district and State levels after verifying the citizenship status of the residents.
• The rules say the particulars of every family and individual found in the Population Register shall be verified and scrutinized by the Local Registrar.

How NPR is different from Census?

• The census involves a detailed questionnaire — there were 29 items to be filled up in the 2011 census.
• They are aimed at eliciting the particulars of every person, including age, sex, marital status, children, occupation, birthplace, mother tongue, religion, disability and whether they belonged to any SC or ST.
• On the other hand, the NPR collects basic demographic data and biometric particulars.
• While the census is legally backed by the Census Act, 1948, the NPR is a mechanism outlined in a set of rules framed under the Citizenship Act, 1955.

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