Both Union Home Minister Amit Shah as well as Union Minister Prakash Javadekar have categorically denied any link between the two registers.



“There is no link between National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR), I am clearly stating this today,” Shah told ANI, in an interview on Tuesday evening.



However, multiple documents from 2014, including answers given in Parliament and the same issued by Press Information Bureau (PIB) appear to contradict the claims made by Shah. Following are the official releases that state NPR as the “first step towards creation of National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC).”

23 July 2014: Former Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, replying to B K Hariprasad in Rajya Sabha said, “The government has now decided to create the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) based on the information collected under the scheme of NPR by verifying the citizenship status of all individuals in the country.”

26 November 2014: Rijiju, once again, reiterated the aforementioned point in Rajya Sabha in response to a question by Dr T N Seema. “The NPR is the first step towards creation of National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) by verifying the citizenship status of every usual residents.”

21 April 2015: A press release by Ministry of Home Affairs iterated that the “logical conclusion” of the NPR is the creation of NRIC. “It has been decided that National Population Register (NPR) should be completed and taken to its logical conclusion, which is the creation of National Register of Indian Citizen (NRIC) and National Identity Cards would be issued to citizens by verification of citizenship status of every usual resident in the NPR. The proposals for the same are under consideration of the Government.”