SHILLONG: The KSU on Monday reiterated its opposition to the intention of the State Government to implement the National Population Register (NPR) or Unique Identification System (UID).
“We had submitted a representation to Home Minister Roshan Warjri in June 2013 requesting her to temporarily postpone the implementation of the NPR in the State,” KSU general secretary Auguster Jyrwa said in a statement on Monday.
He also said that during their meeting with Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on July 19, 2013, he had agreed that the Government would put on hold the implementation of the NPR.
“The Chief Minister had also assured that the Government would hold consultations with the traditional heads on the NPR,” Jyrwa said.
Jyrwa informed that they had suggested the State Government to request the Centre to amend certain provisions of the NPR before its implementation in the State.
“We are all aware that Meghalaya shares border with Bangladesh and Assam and there are strong possibilities that people from outside who enter the State might manage to register themselves and get permanent Indian citizenship,” the KSU general secretary said.
He said that the Centre should look to address these threats before implementing the NPR in the State.
“We also feel that there should be a wider consultation before going ahead with the implementation of the scheme,” Jyrwa added.
Workshop on NPR for Rangbah Shnong
A two-day workshop on National Population Register (NPR) and Biometric Enrolment, organized by the District Administration of East Khasi Hills District for Rangbah Shnong under Shillong Municipal Board began on Monday at the DC’s Office, Shillong. The workshop was chaired by P. Lawai, Additional Deputy Commissioner In charge Census, which was also attended by B. Mawlong, ADM and officials from the Shillong Municipal Board.
During the workshop, D. Roy, Joint Director, Census Operation, Meghalaya, made a power point presentation on the utility of NPR and Biometric Enrolment.
It may be mentioned here that the National Population Register is a mechanism for registration of usual residents of the country and it is compulsory for every citizen of the country to register in the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) as per section 14A of the Citizenship Act 1955 and as amended in 2004. The NPR is the first step towards the preparation of the NRIC.
The NRIC is prepared at the village level, sub district, district, state and national level after verifying the details in the NPR and the establishment of citizenship of all resident.
The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database in the country with full identification and other details by registering every usual resident in the country. The NPR would help in better targeting of benefits and services under the Government schemes and programmes. It will also help in improving planning and security of the country and prevent identity fraud.