Opposition should refrain from spreading fear regarding census process: Kerala CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday has accused Congress-led opposition in the state of spreading unnecessary fear regarding the census process. Vijayan said that the Congress-led opposition should refrain from spreading fear among the public as the state government will implement the census process but not the National Population Register (NPR).

"The government is clear in its stand. Kerala will go ahead with the census process but will not implement NPR. The Opposition should refrain from spreading unwanted fear among the public."

READ | Kerala Based Freedom Fighter Files Petition Against Death Penalties In Supreme Court

The Kerala CM's statement comes after Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala urged the government to not implement the census process till the confusion regarding it among people is cleared.

The CM also responded to Congress MLA AP Anil Kumar who raised the question regarding the establishment of detention centres in the State and in a way put the onus on the Congress-led UPA government. The CM said, "In August 2012, the Centre had written to the State government regarding setting up of detention centres. On December 18, 2015, the then Home Minister signed the file regarding it and sent it to the Social Justice Department. However, this government does not have any plans to establish detention centres".

READ | Kerala CM Vijayan's Big Statement: "SDPI Creating Unrest Using Anti-CAA Protest"

What is NPR?

The NPR is a register of the usual residents of the country. It contains information collected at the local (village/sub-town), subdistrict, district, state and national level under provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.

READ | Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan Seeks EAM Jaishankar's Help In Nepal Tourists Case

NPR was first done in 2010 and was later updated in 2015 when it was linked with the Aadhar. The Union Cabinet last year had announced that the five-yearly exercise will commence in April 2020 and will be concluded in September 2020. Since its announcement, a large section of people has confused the NPR with the census. Also amid the controversy and opposition against the proposed NRC, several sections of people have confused and linked the NPR with NRC and the CAA, further creating a fear that their citizenship might get snatched away.

READ | 'Another Disaster': Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan Slams Budget Plan To Tax Non-taxpaying NRIs

(with inputs from ANI)