New Delhi: Amid lockdowns across the country in the wake of the Corona virus outbreak, the Central government has said that the National Population Register (NPR) exercise and the first phase of Census will get deferred indefinitely, until the containment of the global pandemic.

The move comes just minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a country-wide lockdown for three weeks in the wake of the corona virus outbreak.

While both the first phase of the Census 2021 and the NPR were scheduled to begin from 1 April officials said that the Centre was “unwilling to put any lives at risk until the virus is contained fully."

The exercise would typically involve enumerators visiting each household during the exercise. A formal order on this move is likely to be released by the Union home ministry soon.

“It is going to be delayed for now because the situation is very grave. Discussions are ongoing between senior officials and Census authorities and in all probability, the NPR and house listing phase of the Census (Phase 1) will be deferred till it (Corona virus) has been completely contained," said a senior Union home ministry official.

The exercise to update NPR and the housing listing phase of the Census was earlier scheduled to begin across the country from 1 April to 30 September.

While the Census is aimed at gathering broader socio-economic data on Indians, including religion, caste, income and occupation, NPR, is a more narrowly focused exercise aimed at creating an “identity database".

The Centre’s proposed decision to defer the exercise comes in the backdrop of the outbreak of the Corona Virus and amid nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which have been criticized by Opposition parties and students as unconstitutional and discriminatory against Muslims.

The updating of NPR will take place along with the house-listing phase of Census 2021.

He said no proof of citizenship, documentation or biometric details would be needed.

The 2011 Census pegged India’s population at 1.21 billion—a 17.6% rise from 2001.

NPR is distinct from the Census. NPR’s objective, as per the official Censusindia website, is to create “a comprehensive identity database in the country with full identification and other details by registering each and every usual resident in the country".

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