At a time when the current maelstrom surrounding the CAA-NRC is already on a high scale, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday had unveiled the plan of updating the National Population Register (NPR). Since the announcement, observing the reactions that had followed, it can be said that a certain amount of confusion has managed to surface where the main query is, whether it is anyway related to the National Register of Citizens( NRC) or not? Although there had been categorical assertion on the part of Union Minister Prakash Javadekar that NRC is in no way related to NRC and linked only to the 2021 Census, also strongly echoed by Union Minister himself, confusions refuse to die down. This is because sharp allegations have started flowing in from the opposition which point out that way back in 2014, the present government in Rajya Sabha had stated that NPR is the base document from where the NRC work will start. This makes the understanding of the ‘blurring line’ between NRC & NPR rather more difficult for any one and a step more so for the common citizens since there involves a considerable amount of technical differentiation. If an honest attempt to assess the situation is made, it can be said without any hesitation that it is a stage that had been reached due to an expanding fear factor fuelled by the CAA-NRC duo and the associated set of conflicting statements particularly regarding the NRC that had flowed from the highest echelons of the government. What to believe and whom to believe are the million-dollar questions. But sadly there are hardly any credible answers, as of now.
Coming to the technical part of NPR, from so far that had trickled into public domain, it says that it is a only a national population register by nature and not a citizen register, with no documents or biometrics needed in the process and the entire exercise will be based on self-certification and the larger aim is to help in ensuring that  benefits of welfare schemes reach intended beneficiaries. For the sake of arguments, even if all these are taken to be true, common people can hardly be convinced since they the air of mistrust that had developed is showing no signs of any dilution. Already as many as twelve states have emphatically said that they will not allow the NRC exercise to happen in their states. Kerala and West Bengal have went a step further and stalled NPR updation keeping in view of a fast developing public fear that it is the ‘first step’ towards NRC.
Image and trust of the ruling dispensation has already downgraded due to their continuing  failure in addressing the basic problems bothering common people. In such a backdrop, any initiative, however welfare-centric it might seem, is coming under scanner. Getting out of this air of mistrust is thus another formidable challenge for them, just as it is pulling the economy from the current mess. 

---

Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

<< Back to News List