The top court asked the ECI to clarify what action it will take if a person’s name is not included in the final Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be published on July 31, but it features in the electoral rolls. (Image for representational purpose) The top court asked the ECI to clarify what action it will take if a person’s name is not included in the final Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be published on July 31, but it features in the electoral rolls. (Image for representational purpose)

Amid protests over the NRC, the Union Home Ministry has approached the Cabinet for Rs 3,941 crore to update the National Population Register (NPR). The upcoming NPR exercise will require people to declare ‘date and place of birth of parents’ which was not asked in the earlier NPR — this holds significance in the context of the proposed nationwide NRC.

According to the sources, the Home Ministry has sought Rs 8,754 crore for Census 2021 and Rs 3,941 crore for updating the NPR. The Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is likely to approve the proposal on December 24.

“The data for NPR will be updated alongside the first phase of Census…No biometric data is being collected during the updation exercise,” said a source.

Sources further said data on 21 points will be collected for updating the NPR. These include date and place of birth of parents, last place of residence, Permanent Account Number, Aadhaar (on voluntarily basis), Voter ID card number, Driving License number and mobile number.

In the last NPR in 2010, data was collected on 15 points. These 15 points did not include date and place of birth of parents, last place of residence, passport number, Aadhaar ID, PAN, Driving Licence number, Voter ID card and Mobile number. The three points of mother’s name, father’s name and name of spouse have been made into one point this time.

According to the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, notified on December 10, 2003, a Population Register is ‘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.

“It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR. A usual resident is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more,” says the Census of India website.

Meanwhile, sources said several new initiatives are being taken to conduct Census 2021 which include the facility to the public for self-enumeration and the use of a mobile application time for data collection.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App.