The NPR questionnaire which has been included in the handbook is the same which was finalised last year with fourteen parameters, which include place and date of birth of parents, mother tongue, identity proof like Aadhaar card, passport, voter ID card and so on. The Rules provide that while compiling the local population register, a taluk level official can decide to mark someone as a “doubtful” citizen, in which case, that person will be compelled to provide proof that he/she is an Indian citizen.The movement against the CAA had extended to the NRC too because they are twin measures to deny or exclude people from citizenship based on the Hindutva ideology. When the Union cabinet decided in December 2019 to update the NPR and sanctioned Rs 8,500 crore for the purpose, the CPI(M) had come out clearly opposing the move. It called upon all the chief ministers, who had declared that the NRC will not be implemented in their states, to also take steps to see that the NPR survey process was halted in their statesBy the end of December, thirteen chief ministers had announced that they would not have the NRC compiled in their states. Of them, the chief ministers of Kerala and West Bengal had announced that the NPR updating process would not be undertaken in their states. In fact, the LDF government in Kerala took the lead in notifying that the NPR process will be suspended in Kerala and only the Census enumeration will be done.The matter had dropped out of the public eye since the whole Census-NPR process was postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic. Now when the first phase of the Census enumeration is to take place, it is clear that the NPR updation will also be held.
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