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Bihar assembly passes resolution against NRC
Patna: Bihar assembly on Tuesday passed a unanimous resolution holding that the National Population Register (NPR) in the state would be implemented in the old 2010
Patna: Bihar assembly on Tuesday passed a unanimous resolution holding that the National Population Register (NPR) in the state would be implemented in the old 2010 format, save the inclusion of an additional column for transgender, and also rejected the Centre’s bid to carry out the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Bihar is the first NDA-ruled state, which has demanded tweaking of the revised NPR form by dropping new columns such as mentioning the dates of birth of an individual’s parents and their birth place in the soon-to-be launched nationwide survey of usual residents of the country. Those living in a particular place for six months are defined as usual residents.
Earlier, Kerala and West Bengal decided not to implement the NPR in their states. Congress-ruled Punjab announced that it would conduct the NPR in line with the 2010 format. Several opposition-ruled states such as Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal and Kerala have passed resolutions against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). While, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Goa and Himachal Pradesh have passed resolutions in favour of the CAA.
In Bihar assembly, the resolution was passed when leader of the opposition, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, brought an adjournment motion demanding a debate on the CAA, the NRC and the NPR seeking the government’s clarification regarding their apprehensions about the contentious issues. A special debate was allowed by Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary after ruckus inside the house during the pre-lunch session.
The resolution was passed with full support of both the ruling and opposition parties and is also seen as a move by chief minister (CM), Nitish Kumar, to weaken the opposition Rashtriya Janala Dal (RJD)-Congress’s ongoing campaign against him of not allaying the fears about the NPR and the NRC and ignoring the interests of the Mahadalits and minorities, who hold key to the assembly election to be held later this year.
“I am not convinced about the inclusion of additional columns in the latest NPR form like the one seeking details of an individual’s parents’ birth place and their dates of birth. I do not know the date of birth of my mother. Besides, the option of keeping the column blank in the modified NPR form could land an individual in trouble, in case, the NRC is introduced in the near future,” said the CM while pushing for passing a resolution on modifying the NPR form and rejecting the NRC amid heated debate in the assembly.
Kumar said the state government had written to the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India on February 15, demanding that the additional columns of the new NPR form, except the column seeking details about transgender, be dropped and the new survey be carried in the old 2010 format.
He said his party, Janata Dal (United)’s, alliance partner, the BJP, is also on the same page with him over holding the NPR in the old 2010 format.
On the NRC, Kumar quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarification that there is no such proposal . “The PM has made it clear,” he said, while taking potshots at veteran opposition and Congress parliamentarians such as Lalu Prasad, former President Pranab Mukherjee, Kapil Sibal for supporting the 2003 Citizenship ( Amendment) bill as members of the standing committee.
Responding to Yadav’s query, the CM cited a letter issued by the Census Commissioner on October 7, 2019, as the reason behind the state government’s issuance of a gazette notification for the NPR exercise.
“However, the notification for conducting the NPR as per the modified form has not been issued,” he added.
Bihar finance minister, Sushil Kumar Modi, urged the opposition not to spread misinformation about the NPR and the NRC. “In 2010, residents were not required to furnish any document. This time too the same procedure will be followed,” said Modi, who belongs to the BJP.
