Law And Disorder

Ambiguities in the CAA and the NPR process continue to fuel resentment and confusion

- Pratul Sharma

THE NEW YEAR has rolled in a challenge. The violent protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act may have subsided a bit because of strong government action, but doubts over the new legislation and its links with the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) still linger.

With many opposition-ruled states suspending the process of updating the NPR this year, new dynamics have emerged in Centre-state relations. Kerala, where the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front is in power, recently passed a resolution against the CAA and the NPR update. All but the lone BJP member in the state’s legislative assembly voted in favour of the resolution.

If other states follow suit—West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee apparently intends to do so—the NPR update and the related exercise of Census 2021 will be mired in controversies and suspicion.

The NPR was to be conducted in all states except Assam, along with the house-listing phase of Census 2021 from April to September this year. Around ₹8,500 crore was allocated for both the tasks, with more than 30 lakh government employees involved in the census exercise alone. Most of these officials are part of state governments. So, if the states do not allow officials to initiate the NPR update, or if the residents refuse to cooperate with the officials, it may lead to newer problems.