The union cabinet has paved the way to update the National Population Register next year. This exercise is to identify who the "usual residents" are. This will take place between April to September 2020 and will be followed by a census in 2021. The cost of both the NPR and the census will be Rs 13,000 crore. Government called this a routine process and claimed that no documentary proof is needed and that this will be done through self-certification. The government also claimed that no biometric data will be collected. All this comes at a time when many fear that this NPR could set the stage for the all-India NRC. However, addressing the media, I&B minister Prakash Javadekar said that NPR and the NRC are not linked at all, reports Rituparna Bhuyan.
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