How to register in National Population Register? :
The National Population Register (NPR) is a Register of usual residents of the country. It is being prepared at the local (Village level), sub District (Tehsil/Taluk level), District, State and National level under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
The National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) will be a Register of citizens of the country. It will be prepared at the local (Village level), sub District (Tehsil/Taluk level), District, State and National level after verifying the details in the NPR and establishing the citizenship of each individual. The NRIC, therefore, would be a sub-set of the NPR.
It is compulsory for every citizen of the country to register in a National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) as per Section 14A of the Citizenship Act 1955 as amended in 2004. The NPR is the first step towards preparation of the NRIC. Out of the universal dataset of all the usual residents, the subset of citizens would be derived after due verification of the citizenship status. Therefore, it is compulsory for all usual residents to register under the NPR.
A usual resident of a local area, for the purpose of NPR, is defined as a person who has stayed in the local area for the past 6 months or a person who intends to stay in the local area for the next 6 months.
Yes. The NPR would include citizens as well as non citizens. As long as a person is a usual resident of India, she/he would have to register under the NPR. However, the fact that a person is in the NPR does not confer a right to any person to claim citizenship. They would have to satisfy the various criteria laid down in the Citizenship Act 1955 to qualify for Indian citizenship.
How to register?
During the first phase of Census 2011, enumerators have visited every household and have collected the details required for the NPR in a paper format. These forms have been scanned and the data has been entered into an electronic database in two languages – the State language and in English. Biometric attributes – photograph, ten (10) fingerprints and 2 iris images are being added to the NPR database by organizing enrolment camps in each local area. The enrolment will be done in the presence of Government servants appointed for this purpose.
Up to 10 additional data fields are being collected (KYR +) along with the NPR. This would allow mapping of the Aadhaar Number across the State data bases without any need for the concerned State departments to duplicate the same effort. The Identity (smart) Cards that are proposed would allow off-line mode of authentication. The maintenance mechanism which is being proposed would allow the data bases to be dynamically updated. E-Governance applications can be developed on this platform. Central Schemes such as MNREGA and BPL are already working on such applications.
