Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday called for sticking to the old format of the National Population Register, dropping the additional questions introduced by the Centre this time.
“The basis on which NPR was conducted in 2011 should be continued this time also in the country to ensure that no unnecessary environment of doubt, fear and bitterness is created. There is no need to insert new clauses, the old existing clauses should only be used,” Nitish said.
“There are four to five new questions present in the NPR format that are creating doubts and fear among the people. They should be removed to provide relief to them. The people have been given the choice not to answer the questions, but the enumerator will leave a dash before the unanswered questions. There is fear among people that the dash or blank responses will appear in the National Register of Citizens,” he added.
Nitish, who is also the national president of the Janata Dal United (JDU), said he has instructed party MPs R.C.P. Singh, of the Rajya Sabha, and Rajeev Ranjan alias Lalan Singh, of the Lok Sabha, to present this aspect in their respective Houses in the forthcoming budget session of Parliament.
The Telegraph
The NPR rolled out in 2011 had 15 questions while the one scheduled to be conducted this year has 21 questions.
Nitish pointed to the questions about the place and date of birth of parents, introduced this year, and said there were a large number of poor people who do not know their parents’ place and date of birth.
“If you ask me the date of birth of my mother, I will draw a blank. Previously, people living in rural areas did not pay attention to these things,” he said.
The chief minister added that he discussed the present situation in the country linked to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the NRC and the NPR with party leaders and “wished that the atmosphere becomes normal” as soon as possible.
Nitish said he would not comment on the protests because everyone had “their own opinions”. “But with regard to CAA I would say that it is now an act introduced by the Centre. The states do not have a say in it. Moreover, the matter is now before the Supreme Court, which will decide whether it (CAA) is constitutional or not,” he said.
Several state governments have passed resolutions calling upon the Centre to repeal the law. Kerala, which was the first to do so, has petitioned the Supreme Court against the CAA. The JDU had supported the CAA in Parliament.