Image: Praveen Khanna / Indian Express
Several Opposition ruled states flagged the contentious question about Question No. 13 (II) related to the “date and place of birth of parents” in the National Population Register (NPR) during the workshop convened by the Union Home Ministry to discuss its modalities.
All states and Union Territories, except for West Bengal, participated in the first national workshop regarding the NPR that is to be carried out between 1st April and 30th September. The workshop was held at the Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi.
The workshop was held in two parts – one to familiarize state representatives with the house-listing and NPR process, and the second, to discuss issues with regards to enumeration, infrastructure, and budget, level of training and other doubts.
It was inaugurated by Minister of State (Home) Nityanand Rai who officials say, “laid emphasis on the need of conducting Census 2021 and the role of the states in doing the same.”
An official of the MHA said, “Odisha first raised this point (about the details of the date and birthplace of parents) at the meeting. Some other states, ruled by Opposition parties too had reservations on this question. However, a cogent explanation was given and they appeared to be satisfied.”
Rajasthan Chief Secretary told reporters after the workshop, “States complained that it is impractical to collect information on the date and place of birth of parents. There are many people in the country who don’t even know what their birthplace was. I don’t know what the purpose of such questions is and we have told the meeting to remove such a question.”
The Indian Express reported that a senior official from an opposition-ruled state said the meeting was fruitful as a familiarization exercise for the challenges that would be faced during the NPR process and House-listing Census, but a call on either had not yet been taken in his state. “Whether to conduct NPR is a political call. If the leadership decides non-cooperation, it will happen through the public. We will not do it officially,” the official said.
Officials said that the state representatives were apprised that the same question was also asked in the 2010 and 2015 NPR exercises, though it wasn’t a separate question then. “When some still expressed reservations, we told them that information is voluntary and if the respondent does not want to give such information, he/she can refuse to give it,” the official said.
In the NPR of 2010 and 2015, the government had asked for the details of the Aadhaar Card and mobile number, however, this time around, it is also seeking information pertaining to driving license, voter ID, mother tongue, passport details, etc.
The first NPR in 2010 was also carried out along with the house-listing phase of the census, but the concerns that have arisen this time are in the backdrop of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The questions about the date and birthplace of parents in the NPR are being seen with anxiety because the NPR is now seen as the government’s first step towards the dangerous National Register of Citizens (NRC). Especially now, with all the data that the government is asking for, it is possible that the administration will be able to create a profile for the individual. Not only is this a threat to the privacy of the data that citizens so trustingly hand over to the government, but it poses an even bigger risk of the same being misused.
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