New Delhi, 24 December: The central government has approved an expenditure of Rs 8,754.23 crore for the Census of India 2021 exercise and Rs 3,941.35 crore for the updation of the National Population Register (NPR). Proposals related to this effect were approved in the meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.
Giving information about the decisions of the Cabinet, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the census process in the country has been taking place every 10 years since the British period. So, the census has been done eight times during the tenure of the British and seven times in independent India. This time the census will be the 16th time for 2021.
At the same time, the last time in 2010 the United Progressive Alliance(UPA) government started the National Population Register(NPR), which was updated in 2015. During this time the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also distributed cards to the people.However, the information related to NPR will now be gathered further.
Javadekar said that through this, information about the economic and social status of the people in the country is provided so that the benefits of government schemes can reach them better. This process will start from April 2020 and will run till September. Information will be collected from house to house. There will be a head count in February 2021. He told that every time there is a long form attached to it. No documents will be required for this now because an app has been developed to conduct the census. Though, the process of registration through filling of documents has been going on since the British era but now the registration can be done through this app.
Difference between NRC and APR
Javadekar has clarified that the National Population Register (NPR) has nothing to do with NRC, clearing the atmosphere of skepticism across the country regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Citizenship Register (NRC). This is a process that started in the UPA government. All states have accepted this. It has been notified and training programs are going on. For this, no person has to provide documents, papers or biometric information related to his identity.
