With the ongoing debate over National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Congress on Thursday accused the BJP government of bringing the NRC in the garb of the NPR and claimed that questions related to the NRC will be asked in the pre-test forms for the NPR.
Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken said his party will oppose the government if it tries to link the NPR with the NRC and alleged that it infringes upon the citizens’ right to privacy.
“The BJP government is trying to bring the NRC in the garb of the NPR. The BJP government wants to polarise the society,” he said. He added that the questions asked in the NPR pre-test questionnaire are not required for the exercise.
NPR pre-test in 2019 included 30 lakh people. In the pre-test form they sought the following info:-
– Mother-father, husband-wife who have not lived in that house, their date of birth
– What country were the parents born in
– Aadhaar, Mobile, Voter ID, License Number
: @ajaymaken— Congress Live (@INCIndiaLive) December 26, 2019
NPR is for ordinary residents, in which either they have lived in that place for more than 6 months or want to stay for more than 6 months. The video of @PChidambaram_IN ji being circulated is not about the citizen, it is about common residents: @ajaymaken#JhootJhootJhoot
— Congress Live (@INCIndiaLive) December 26, 2019
Meanwhile, West Bengal and Kerala are the only two states which have stopped the NPR procedures since they believe it is the first step for the contentious NRC.