Friday, September 30, 2011

Conference on National Population Register

A Conference of Chief Secretaries, State Coordinators and Directors of Census Operations on the creation of National Population Register (NPR) was held New Delhi on September 30. The Minister of State for Home, Shri Jitendra Singh delivered the key note address to the delegates and the meeting was Chaired by the Union Home Secretary,  R.K.Singh.

In his inaugural address, the Union Home Secretary informed the participants that creation of National Population Register is a vital scheme of the Government, being created under the Citizenship Act, 1955 and Citizenship Rules, 2003. The Government has to compulsorily register every citizen in the country and creation of NPR is the first step towards the creation of the citizens register. He informed that more than 14 crore records have been digitised and more than 50 lakh biometrics have been captured so far under the NPR. A target for completing the exercise by December, 2012 was set by the Home Secretary.

In his key note address to the delegates, the MOS (Home) emphasised the importance of this national flagship scheme of the Government and stated that this is a mandatory exercise. He expressed the hope that with the unstinting cooperation from the State/UT Governments, the work will be completed within the timelines set. Shri Singh congratulated the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, for completing the stupendous task of counting more than a 121 crore persons, scanning more than 26 crore NPR schedules, undertaking data entry and capture of biometrics. Shri Singh reiterated the timelines set by the Government for completing the works by December, 2012 and urged all State/UT Governments to work towards achieving the target in a planned way.

The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, Dr. C. Chandramouli made a brief presentation to the delegates on the legal framework in place for creation of NPR.

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