Nat’l population register to be carried out in Bihar May 15-28

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushil Kumar Modi said updating of the National Population Register (NPR) will be carried out in the state from May 15 to May 28 this year.

The opposition parties, which oppose the Citizenship Amendment Act, suspect that the NPR, which is a routine government exercise, could serve as the basis of the proposed controversial nation-wide National Register of Citizens, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The opposition has opposed the Citizenship Amendment Act, passed by parliament in December, that offers Indian citizenship to religious minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Sushil Modi maintained that "NPR and NRC are two different things."

He also said administrative and punitive action would be taken against officials if they refuse to carry out the NPR.

"The NPR process in 2020 will be carried out between April 1 to September 30 in the country. In Bihar, it will be done between May 15 and May 28, 2020," Sushil Modi told reporters in Patna on Saturday evening.

The process of preparing NPR began in 2010 during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance rule which was completed between April 1 to September 30 that year, he said.

The Indian government is "updating" the NPR 2010 in 2020 just before the 2021 Census, the Bihar Deputy chief minister said.

West Bengal and Kerala Chief Ministers Mamata Banerjee and P Vijayan respectively have already issued orders putting on hold work related to the NPR.

Sushil Modi said "no state including West Bengal, Kerala, Rajasthan can refuse to implement the CAA or NPR as the Centre has the power to bring legislation over citizenship.

Preparing NPR is a statutory provision which no state can refuse to implement," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told a public rally in Delhi on December 22 that there had been no discussion in his government about NRC.