Amid apprehensions over the updating of the National Population Register, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said there was no link between the NPR and the National Register of Citizen (NRC). Shah's remarks came on a day when the Union cabinet approved over Rs 8, 500 crore for updating the NPR.
In an interview to news agency ANI, Shah said the information obtained through NPR cannot be used for NRC.
“NPR is register of population, NRC is register of citizens. There is no link between the two,” he said.
Earlier, Kerala and West Bengal governments had stayed all activities in connection with the NPR in their states considering apprehensions of public that it would lead to the NRC. The decisions came amid widespread protests over the amended Citizenship Act.
The home minister, however, said the cabinet didn't discuss the NRC. There should not be politics over the exercise as it was aimed at benefitting citizens and for improving the planning of welfare schemes, he said.
Shah said the NPR would not affect anyone's nationality. “Even if somebody's name is missing from NPR, his citizenship will not be threatened,” he told ANI.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also said that there had been no discussion in the government on the NRC.
"Since my government first came to power in 2014, I want to tell 130 crore countrymen, there has never been a discussion on this NRC," Modi had said, noting that it was done only in Assam due to a Supreme Court order.
