Census, National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

1. On December 10, 2003, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification which contained the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules.

2. This was done in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-sections (1) and (3) of section 18 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which state as follows:

Section 18(1): The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act. Section 18(3): In making any rule under this section, the Central Government may provide that a breach thereof shall be punishable with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees.

3. What is the NPR, or National Population Register, as recently announced by the Government? Rule 2(l) of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules defines the term 'Population Register' as follows:

"Population Register" means the register containing details of persons usually residing in a village or rural area or town or ward or demarcated area (demarcated by the Registrar General of Citizen Registration) within a ward in a town or urban area;

4. The Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India describes the NPR as a Register of usual residents of the country. According to livelaw.in, a usual resident, for the purpose of NPR, is a person who has resided in a place for 6 months or more and intends to reside there for a period of another 6 months or more.

5. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification on 31 July 2019, that read as follows:

S. O. 2753(E).— In pursuance of sub-rule (4) of rule 3 of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, the Central Government hereby decides to prepare and update the Population Register and the field work for house to house enumeration throughout the country except Assam for collection of information relating to all persons who are usually residing within the jurisdiction of Local Registrar shall be undertaken between the 1st day of April, 2020 to 30th September, 2020.

[F. No. 9/5/2019-CRD (NPR)]

VIVEK JOSHI,

Registrar General of Citizen Registration.

6. The following demographic details of every individual were taken for NPR in 2010 :

• Name of person

• Relationship to head of household

• Father’s name

• Mother’s name

• Spouse’s name (if married)

• Sex

• Date of Birth

• Marital status

• Place of birth

• Nationality (as declared)

• Present address of usual residence

• Duration of stay at present address

• Permanent residential address

• Occupation/Activity

• Educational qualification

7. The preparation of the NPR is carried out under the aegis of the Central Government. This is in accordance with Rule 3(4) of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, which reads as follows:

The Central Government may, by an order issued in this regard, decide a date by which the Population Register shall be prepared by collecting information relating to all persons who are usually residing within the jurisdiction of Local Registrar.

8. The data for National Population Register was first collected in 2010 along with the house-listing phase of Census of India 2011. The updation of this data was done during 2015 by conducting door to door survey.

9. In a recent interview to ANI, Union Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah, was not very lucid as regards the distinction between NPR and the decennial exercise of the Census. Let us, therefore, understand the difference between the two. Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948 states as follows:

The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare its intention of taking a census in the whole or any part of the territories to which this Act extends, whenever it may consider it necessary or desirable to do so and thereupon the Census shall be taken.

10. Census data is based on self-declaration made by the persons without verification. It is, however, binding upon the citizens to share demographic data for the preparation of NPR, failing which the person may be fined. This is in accordance with Rule 17 of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, which states as follows:

Any violation of provisions of rules 5, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 14 shall be punishable with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees.

NRC has a legal basis, for it is being monitored by the Supreme Court of India through the case of Assam Public Works v Union of India and Ors. [Writ Petition (Civil) No. 274 of 2009].d.

11. NRC is the National Register of Citizens. It is also known with the acronym NRIC, or National Register of Indian Citizens.

Citizenship Act, 1955, Section 14A(1): The Central Government may compulsorily register every citizen of India and issue national identity card to him.

Citizenship Act, 1955, Section 14A(2): The Central Government may maintain a National Register of Indian Citizens and for that purpose establish a National Registration Authority.

Rule 3(1), Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules: The Registrar General of Citizen Registration shall establish and maintain the National Register of Indian Citizens.

NRC has a Constitutional basis, for it is being monitored by the Supreme Court of India through the case of Assam Public Works v Union of India and Ors. [Writ Petition (Civil) No. 274 of 2009].

12. In the interview to ANI as mentioned in point 9, Shri Amit Shah said that there was no link between NPR and NRC. This statement is partially true and partially false.

Why is it partially false? Because, the link between the two has been made explicit by Rule 3(5) of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, which states as follows:

The Local Register of Indian citizens shall contain details of persons after due verification made from the Population Register.

Why is it partially true? The argument I am going to present is admittedly powerless, nay immaterial, for the aforementioned Rule makes it clear in unambiguous terms. However, in the context of the purpose behind the two, they are different. While the NPR is intended to identify the demographics of actual residents who will be direct beneficiaries of any schemes launched in the area. the NRC is intended to maintain a register of all the citizens of India. However, to say that both are utterly unrelated is to err.

In order that the point of beneficiary schemes may be explained, the Minister provided an example, as recorded by India Today: A majority of permanent residents of an industrial town in Gujarat may be Gujarati speaking, but the majority of current residents may consist of Hindi speaking people from various parts of the country. The NPR data will help government design and adapt schemes like Ayushman Bharat, Jandhan Yojna, or medium of instruction in schools as per the current demographics, thus making the schemes more effective.

In discussion with a friend regarding the same, I was not prepared to accept that the NRC and NPR are linked. However, this was under a misconception. The aforementioned friend of mine stated that a document from the Ministry of Home Affairs indicated the link between the two, but I theorized that the documents are prepared by the bureaucrats, and the Minister has the power to override the bureaucrats in terms of decision-making, and Shri Amit Shah's assertion of non-linkage would, therefore, be the final word.

It was only later that I took cognizance of the fact that the "document" is the 2003 notification by the Ministry of Home Affairs (as stated in point 1), and that the Minister could not override or amend a provision arbitrarily without making the amendment public.

13. Rule 4(3) of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules states as follows:

For the purposes of preparation and inclusion in the Local Register of Indian Citizens, the particulars collected of every family and individual in the Population Register shall be verified and scrutinized by the Local Registrar, who may be assisted by one or more persons as specified by the Registrar General of Citizen Registration.

14. There have been concerns raised by a section of the society that those who can not prove themselves as citizens may be deported immediately. What happens to those whose citizenship may be doubtful? Rule 4(4) of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) states as follows:

During the verification process, particulars of such individuals, whose Citizenship is doubtful, shall be entered by the Local Registrar with appropriate remark in the Population Register for further enquiry and in case of doubtful 4 Citizenship, the individual or the family shall be informed in a specified proforma immediately after the verification process is over.

15. Would such individuals, whose citizenship be doubtful, be deported immediately? Such a concern is unfounded, for Rule 4(5)(a) clearly states as follows:

Every person or family specified in sub-rule (4), shall be given an opportunity of being heard by the Sub-district or Taluk Registrar of Citizen Registration, before a final decision is taken to include or to exclude their particulars in the National Register of Indian Citizens.

16. This is further complemented with the following under the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules:

Rule 4(6)(a): The draft of the Local Register of Indian Citizens shall be published by the Sub-district or Taluk Registrar, for inviting any objections or for inclusion of any name or corrections for the family or individual particulars collected and proposed to be finally entered in the National Register of Indian Citizens.

Rule 4(6)(b): Any objection against a particular entry or for inclusion of a name, or corrections if any, in the Local Register of Indian Citizens may be made within a period of thirty days from the date of publication of the draft of the Local Register of Indian Citizens, spelling out the nature and reasons for the objection in such form as may be specified by the Registrar General of Citizen Registration.

Rule 4(7)(a): Any person aggrieved by the order of the Sub-district or Taluk Registrar under sub-rule (5) or sub-rule (6), may prefer an appeal within thirty days from the date of such order, to the District Registrar of Citizen Registration.

Rule 4(7)(b): The District Registrar of Citizen Registration shall take a final decision, after giving an opportunity of being heard to the person so aggrieved, within a period of ninety days from the date of appeal.

Rule 4(7)(c): In case the appeal is allowed, the particulars shall be entered in the National Register of Indian Citizens.

17. In light of the above facts, the concerns regarding immediate deportation of those whose citizenship be doubtful, are unwarranted.

There remains Rule 4(6)(c) which states as follows:

Subject to the provisions contained in clause (a) of sub-rule (5), the Sub-district or Taluk Registrar shall consider such objections and summarily dispose off the same within a period of ninety days, and thereafter submit the Local Register of Indian Citizens so prepared to the District Registrar of Citizen Registration who shall cause the entries in the Local Register of Indian Citizens, to be transferred to the National Register of Indian Citizens.

In all fairness, the period of ninety days is reasonable, for the government could possibly not allow an indefinite time period.

18. In the interview to ANI as mentioned in points 9 and 12, Shri Amit Shah said that in addition to the demographic details that characterized the 2010 NPR (as mentioned in point 8), the 2020 NPR 'Schedule' asks about details of date of birth and place of birth of one's parents.

Why have these been added? The reason is that the citizenship status of one's parents is a determining factor for citizenship by birth after the 2003 amendment to Citizenship Act 1955. This is by virtue of Section 3 that the Amendment Act, which states as follows:

3. Citizenship by birth.- (1) Except as provided in sub- section (2), every person born in India-

(a) on or after the 26th day of January, 1950 , but before the 1st day of July, 1987 ;

(b) on or after the 1st day of July, 1987 , but before the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003 and either of whose parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth;

(c) on or after the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003 , where-(i) both of his parents are citizens of India; or (ii) one of whose parents is a citizen of India and the other is not an illegal migrant at the time of his birth, shall be a citizen of India by birth.(2) A person shall not be a citizen of India by virtue of this section if at the time of his birth-(a) either his father or mother possesses such immunity from suits and legal process as is accorded to an envoy of a foreign sovereign power accredited to the President of India and he or she, as the case may be, is not a citizen of India; or (b) his father or mother is an enemy alien and the birth occurs in a place then under occupation by the enemy.".

19. At an implementation level, the idea of asking citizens to prove their citizenship on the basis of documents may be problematic. Livelaw.in has also raised concerns of bureaucratic high-handedness in consideration of the fact that a sizeable percentage of population is uneducated. The "doubtful citizen" category in Rule 4(3) is inherently subjective, for there have been no guidelines as regards the marking of "doubtful citizens".

20. Since there is no official notification as regards the date of the beginning of NRC, it would be premature to talk about what documents may be sufficient to prove citizenship. However, Shri Amit Shah had, in an interview to Rahul Kanwal, made clear that the Assam NRC exercise had brought to the notice of the government, several flaws which needed addressal, without which NRC shall not be implemented.

21. In conclusion, therefore, the following points may be made:-- (1) The NRC has been mandated by the Citizenship Rules of 2003, and is being monitored by the Supreme Court. This, in itself, proves that there is a degree of transparency, for once under judicial watch, no scheme can be secretive or opaque.

(2) The NPR is a precursor to NRC in the sense that the NRC data would prepared post the verification of the NPR.

(3) Since the NPR activity is to commence in April 2020 and end in September 2020, the NRC would witness commencement only thereafter, and not immediately.

(4) None of this is a pet-project of the incumbent government. Therefore, subjecting it to villification would be unfair. Being the first government to actually implement the pre-decided rules, it should, on the contrary, be commended. What is to be demanded is the addressal of potential flaws, something the Home Minister has promised to do.

(5) The government would be mandated to address the flaws. A flawed NRC shall, understandably, not receive the assent of the Supreme Court.