M A I N   N E W S

National ID cards soon, says Rajnath

We have to identify who is Indian citizen and who is not. The NPR will identify who is an Indian citizen and who is not. All genuine Indian citizens will get a national identity card. Rajnath Singh, home minister

New Delhi, July 8
The government is preparing the National Population Register (NPR) incorporating all genuine Indian citizens and will give them national identity cards in a time-bound manner.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh announced this in Lok Sabha while replying questions on reports of illegal infiltrations into the country.

“We have to identify who is Indian citizen and who is not. We have to take steps to identify genuine Indian citizen,” he said, amidst applause from members of the ruling coalition.

Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently convened a meeting of various stake holders to discuss how the NPR and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) work in mutual cooperation to prepared a comprehensive NPR data base.

“The NPR will be prepared in a time-bound manner. NPR will identify who is Indian citizen and who is not. All genuine Indian citizens will get a national identity card,” he said.

The Home Minister said the government had taken a number of steps to stop the illegal infiltration from across the border, including fencing the international border.

He said out of the 4,096 km long Indo-Bangladesh border, fencing has been completed in 3,300 km while work in another 500 km is on.

Singh said the government was facing difficulty in constructing fencing in riverine, hilly and desert areas.

Replying to a question, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said the Citizenship Act, 1955 was amended in 2003 by inserting Section 14-A, which states that the Central Government may compulsorily register every citizen of India and issue national identity card to him and may maintain a National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) and for that purpose establish a National Registration Authority. Therefore, it was a legal obligation, he said.

Rijiju said the scheme of NPR has been reviewed and it has been decided that it should be completed and taken to its logical conclusion, which is creation of NRIC by verification of citizenship status of every usual residents in the NPR. Relevant proposal will be prepared based on the decision of the government, he said. — PTI

NPR being prepared The government is preparing the National Population Register (NPR) of all Indian citizens and will issue them national IDs in a time-bound manner PM Narendra Modi recently convened a meeting of various stakeholders to discuss means to utilise NPR and Unique Identification Authority of India for a comprehensive NPR database