Tamil Nadu government has “put on hold” work towards updating the National Population Register (NPR) in the State, pending certain clarifications sought on the issue from the Centre.
“So far, the notification for updating the NPR has not been issued. We will take it up only after we receive clarification from the Centre. Until then, the updating of the NPR has been put on hold,” Revenue Minister R.B. Udhayakumar told journalists in Chennai on Thursday.
The government has sought clarifications from the Centre over three specific questions pertaining to the mother tongue, details of the parents and spouse of the resident during enumeration.
“Since the clarifications have not been received yet, work on updating the NPR has not commenced,” he said and pointed out that the notification issued in the State was only for conducting Census and not for NPR.
As for the claim of the DMK that residents had to produce documents to support their details during the enumeration, Mr. Udhayakumar reiterated that the documents were not required to be submitted.
The NPR was not applicable to any specific religion, he pointed out and said that the State government had been taking steps so that the NPR could be updated as and when Muslims wished.
Mr. Udhayakumar said Muslims should not fall prey to the “instigation and conspiracy” of the DMK and added “100%, AIADMK government will stand by the minorities.”
Muslim festivals
As for the absence of festivals celebrated by Muslims in the NPR manual, the Minister said the manual was just the same was it was followed in 2010. “As for Muslim festivals, since there are not fixed dates but depend on the sighting of moon, those festivals were not mentioned. They could have objected then [2010]. In 2020 too, the same manual is to be followed.”
Asked why a resolution could not be passed against a law passed in the Parliament, when several other States could do so, Mr. Udhayakumar pointed out that some States that passed the resolution have issued notification.
