Kerala Govt to Inform Centre About its Decision to Not Implement NPR

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid its opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Kerala government has decided to inform the Centre that it will not implement the proposed National Population Register (NPR).

The Kerala government said that it will fully cooperate with the census process and the Census Registrar General will be informed about the decision. The Kerala government has approached the Supreme Court against the CAA recently and has also passed a resolution against the law.

On January 17, the Kerala government had directed all District Collectors to ensure that the National Population Register (NPR) is not mentioned while sending communications on Census 2021.

In a letter, Principal Secretary of General Administration Department KR Jyothilal asked the Collectors to personally ensure this as the government had last month stayed all matters relating to NPR operations in the state, which was to be conducted along with the first phase of Census operations- 2021.

In a statement, the CMO said that the police have reported that the law and order situation in the state will be adversely affected if the it goes ahead with the implementation of NPR.

On Sunday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan lashed out at the Centre over the 'controversial' CAA and said the state would not implement the 'whims and fancies' of the RSS, but would uphold the values of the Constitution.

Vijayan, addressing a massive anti-CAA rally, made it clear that the Left-ruled state would never implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).

In a stinging editorial in defence of his government's petition against the controversial law, Vjayan on Saturday said the CAA will not just affect the Indian society but also hamper the country’s economic development.

“What the world thinks about us matters, as more than half of India’s GDP is in the external sector. The CAA will not just affect our society, but will also hamper our economic development,” Vijayan said in a column for the Indian Express.

In the write-up, the CM also shot down allegations that the petition against the amended citizenship law is against the Constitution.