NPR updation in Himachal to begin on May 16

The process for the updation of the National Population Register (NPR) in Himachal Pradesh will begin from May 16 to June 30, an official said on Wednesday.

Chief Secretary Anil Khachi said the NPR updation and the houselisting and housing census operations will be done in the state from May 16 to June 30 under phase I.

In phase II, the population enumeration for Census 2021 in general areas will take place from February 9-28, 2021, he said.

Khachi added the revisional round would take place from March 1-5, 2021.

The population enumeration in snow-bound areas will take place from September 11-30 and the revisional round will be held from October 1-5 this year, he said.

Khachi was addressing the one-day state-level conference and training of Divisional Census Officers (DCOs) and Principal Census Officers (PCOs) of the state on Census of India 2021 organised by the Directorate of Census Operations Himachal Pradesh.

During the training, the DCOs and the PCOs were imparted training on instruction manual for houselisting and housing census and manual for the NPR.

A register of usual residents of the country, the NPR is being prepared under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR. A usual resident is defined for the purposes of the NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more.

Khachi said the census data is the bedrock for social analysis and provides valuable benchmark information for planning and formulation of various programmes and policies.

Director, Census Operation, Sushil Kapta said all 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh including 73 sub-divisions, 172 tehsils and sub-tehsils and 20,852 villages will be covered during Census 2021.

He said 14,946 enumerators and 2,532 supervises will be involved in Census 2021 in the state.

The secretary, General Administrative Department (GAD), has been appointed as the state nodal officer and deputy commissioners of all districts including commissioners of municipal corporations of Shimla and Dharamshala have been appointed as PCOs for both rural and urban areas for success of the exercise, he said.