States can't refuse to participate in NPR, says MoS Home

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday said that the National Population Register (NPR) is a constitutional obligation on states and they cannot refuse to participate in the process.

"It (NPR) is a constitutional obligation on states, states should not object to this, we will continue to sensitize them, disclosing information to NPR is voluntary," Reddy told reporters here.

Kerala and West Bengal governments have announced that they will not implement the NPR in their respective states.

According to Ministry officials, the information given by the public during NPR is completely voluntary and people will not have to show any documents during the process.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson also clarified several facts about the census as well.

"The Indian Census is the largest administrative and statistical exercise in the world, with more than 30 lakh functionaries, and at the cost of about 8700 crore rupees," MHA spokesperson tweeted on Tuesday.

"A few things about Census 2021: FIRST EVER census to be conducted with a mixed-mode approach -a mobile app (created in-house by RGI office) Facility for online self enumeration for the public during population enumeration phase," it added.

MHA spokesperson said that while confidentiality about the data is guaranteed by Census Act, 1948, the same law also specifies the penalty for both public and census officials for non-compliance or violation of any provision of the Act.