Preparations for Census 2021, NPR update to begin from April 1: Ministry

Amidst protests over theCitizenship Amendment Act, the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and National Population Register (NPR), the Centre remains adamant on linking NPR with Census 2021. The Home Ministry said on Thursday that preparations were underway to conduct the exercise, according to media reports.

The statement followed a conference organised by the Ministry on the status of preparatory work for Census 2021 and NPR update, which was attended by directors of the census operations. The Ministry revealed that preparations would begin from April 1.

The statement read: "The preparations for Census and NPR update that is to begin from April 1 are now at their peak. The listing of houses and linking of NPR with Census will be carried out across the country from April 1 to September 30.

Meanwhile, 190 prominent figures including Harsh Mander (Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi), who was recently charged with contempt of court and inciting violence; Barbara Harriss-White (Oxford University); and Debraj Ray (Professor, New York University) have written to the government to delink the Census and NPR, media reports said.

The ministry has held discussions on the jurisdictional changes made after 2011. They have also discussed the finalisation of statutory towns and census towns.

Talks have also been held on urban agglomeration, creation of special charges, preparations for snowbound areas, and training of enumerators at the district and tehsil levels.

During the discussions, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana made presentations.The rest of the states are expected to make presentations on the status of their preparedness for the exercise on Friday.

The statement noted that the directors of Census Operations of different States/Union Territories (UTs) also presented the level of preparedness in their respective States/UTs.