KL-CITIZENSHIP-LD NPR

After W.Bengal, Kerala too puts on hold NPR work
(Eds: Adds details)
Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 20 (PTI) The Kerala government
on Friday said it has ordered a stay on all activities in
connection with the National Population Register (NPR) in the
state considering 'apprehensions' of public that it would lead
to NRC in the wake of the controversial citizenship act.
While a government order said the NPR had been put on
hold in view of apprehensions that it would lead to the
National Register of Citizens (NRC), a statement from the
Chief Minister's Office said the action was taken as the NPR
"deviates from Constitutional values" and also because the
matter was before the Supreme Court.
The step by the CPI(M)-led government comes amid raging
protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the
state and in several other parts of the country.
Earlier this week, the West Bengal government stayed all
activities relating to the preparation and updation of the NPR
in the eastern state amid the furore over the CAA.
The order issued by the Kerala Principal Secretary
(General Administration) said: "Considering that the
apprehensions among the general public that the conduct of NPR
related activities leads to NRC in the wake of Citizenship
Amendment Act-2019, the state government orders to stay all
the activities connected with the updation of National
Population Register in the state forthwith."
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's office in a release
said: "After considering the concerns raised in the wake of
the 2019 amendment in the Citizenship Act, the State
Government has decided not to cooperate with the process to
update the NPR to facilitate the preparation of the NRC."
"The NPR also deviates from constitutional values...," it
added.
Vijayan has lashed out at the CAA saying it was an
attempt to "curb" freedom and participated in a joint protest
against it with the opposition Congress-led UDF on Monday.
The updation of NPR, the field work of which is carried
out by the state government, was scheduled between April 15
and May 29 next year in Kerala and proposed to take place
along with house listing and housing census.
According to the website of the Office of the Registrar
General and Census Commissioner, the objective of the NPR is
to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual
resident in the country. The database will contain demographic
as well as biometric particulars.
A controversy had erupted over the notification
regarding the updating of the NPR. However, it was issued
before the CAA. PTI RRT
VS VS

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)