The Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand has urged the Centre to conduct the National Population Register (NPR) survey as per the 2010 format and not to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
A three-line resolution in this regard was passed by the State Assembly amidst opposition from the Bharatiya Janata Party members on Monday.
“In the present format having 15 points, people will be asked about date and place of birth of parents. Most of people in Jharkhand will not be able to answer these questions. In Jharkhand, most people even don’t know their own date of birth,” Alamgir Alam, Jharkhand Rural Development Minister and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, told The Hindu.
He said the government was of the view that the NPR was the first step, it would be followed by the NRC and finally the Citizen (Amendment) Act. (CAA).
“People did not want the NPR to be conducted in the present format. People from different sections of society, MLAs and political parties had been demanding the rejection of the NRC and the NPR. So we have gone for passing this resolution,” said the Minister.
“When the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, in which the BJP is an alliance partner, passed the resolution rejecting the present NPR format, the saffron party remained silent. But, they are making a hue and cry in Jharkhand,” alleged Mr. Alam.
Recently, Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JJM), a forum of different civil society organisations, had demanded that the Jharkhand government should stop all NPR-related activities and pass a resolution in the Assembly against the CAA and the NRC.
Stating that the main purpose of the NPR was to lay the ground for the NRC, the JJM had said the NRC was a “wasteful exercise” that was bound to lead to the exclusion and harassment of large number of people, especially the poor as had already happened in Assam.
“It will wreak havoc on the poor of Jharkhand, especially tribals, Dalits, Muslims and women. The combination of the CAA and the NRC could easily become a weapon to reduce many Muslims to second-class citizens,” it had pointed out.
On Monday, the Budget session of the Jharkhand Assembly was adjourned indefinitely in wake of COVID-19 outbreak.
