ON DECEMBER 24, 2019, CLOSE ON THE HEELS of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public meeting in NewDelhi, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar held a press conference along with RailwayMinister PiyushGoyal, giving rise to speculation that something major was going to be announced. It was reasonable to expect that the government would announce something significant, given the nationwide protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register for Citizens (NRC). Instead, the Minister sprang a surprise by announcing the budget allocation for the National Population Register (NPR) and the Census. The Census was, in any case, due next year, with house-listing data to be compiled six months before the actual headcount in 2021. So, the announcement of an NPR in the midst of all the unrest was inexplicable.
The government had shifted the goalposts from the CAA and the NRC to the NPR now. The background for the NPR was being prepared amid more obfuscation.
The NPR was not the NRC and the NPR did not have any connection with citizenship either, the Minister said. The exercise for the NPR would start in April 2020 and go on until September 2020 where no proof would be demanded. Neither would biometrics of individuals be taken, nor would documents be required. “Jo aap kahogey, wahi sahi hai [what you say will be accepted]”, he said. The process would be one of self-certification. All-State governments would have to issue notifications for the NPR.
Javadekar also said that the NPR was being done to ensure that the benefits of various targeted schemes reached the beneficiaries. He added that the NPR was done in 2010 during the regime of the second United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and updated in 2015 by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Former PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh had even distributed national identity cards, he said.
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How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
