Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said there was no link between NPR (National Population Register) and NRC (National Register of Citizens). Talking exclusively to ANI, Shah said the Central government is not holding any discussions to implement nationwide NRC. The Home Minister also accused sections of the Opposition of trying to stoke fear on the NPR as people had understood the purpose of government bringing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Shah's remarks came on a day when the Union Cabinet approved the proposal for conducting Census of India 2021 and updating of NPR. With West Bengal and Kerala having decided to put a stop to NPR exercise, Shah said there should not be politics over the same as it is aimed at benefitting citizens and for improving the planning of welfare schemes.
Here are 10 takeaways from what Amit Shah said on NPR and NRC
- There was no link between the National Population Register exercise and the National Register of Citizens and that the process of NPR cannot be used for NRC. The information obtained through NPR cannot be used for NRC, but will be used to formulate plans for the betterment of the public through central government schemes
- There is a basic difference between the two. Names of all those who live in the country are registered in the population register on the basis of which schemes are made. In NRC, proof is sought from every person and asked on what basis you are the citizen of the country. In the NPR exercise, a person residing in the country will furnish information through a mobile app and no documents will be sought
- There is no provision in CAA to take away citizenship of any person and it was for giving citizenship. Minorities, including Muslims, should not fear. The notification of NPR was made in July. At that time CAA had not come. The file of the bill had even not started. There is now no fear in the minds of people about it, hence some people now want to create scare of NPR
- There is no need to debate pan-India NRC as there is no discussion on it right now. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was right. There is no discussion on it yet either in the Cabinet or Parliament
- There is no connection between the detention center and NRC or CAA. The center has been there for years and is for illegal immigrants. Misinformation is being spread on this
- There is only one detention centre which has been in existence for years and probably there was no other such centre. No detention centre has been made after the Modi-led government came to power
- I want to tell chief ministers of Kerala and West Bengal, don't take such step (of stopping work on updating National Population Register). They should rethink. This (NPR) is the base for welfare programmes for poor of Kerala and Bengal. Please don't keep poor people out of the developmental programme for politics, bring them in
- There might have been some communication gap on the part of the government in reaching out to people, with respect to the Citizenship Act. But you can see my speech in Parliament. In that, I have said clearly that there is no question of any member of minority community losing citizenship
- In 2010, UPA had done this exercise (the process of updating National Population Register Exercise) and nobody raised questions. When they do it, there is no problem but there is a problem when we do it. I don't understand what kind of politics is being done
- Nobody can justify the violence and one should understand that it is not easy to stand still when thousands of stones are being pelted, Amit Shah said in response to alleged police brutality during protests against the amended Citizenship Act
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