Maharashtra set to roll out data collection for NPR as Thackeray over-rules Cong

Shiv Kumar

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Tribune News Service

Mumbai, February 14

Maharashtra is all set to roll out data collection for the National Population Register (NPR) from May 1 after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over-ruled objections by the Congress, according to sources here.

While senior leaders, including ministers from the Congress like Varsha Gaikwad, have strongly opposed the rollout of the NPR exercise in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena is said to be in favour of it. The Nationalist Congress Party, which is also part of the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi government, is weighing its options in the issue, according to sources.

However, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who belongs to the NCP, has told representatives of the Muslim community that his party was taking legal advice on preventing the NPR exercise from being rolled out in the state.

“The Maharashtra government will soon issue a notification and start the process of deploying staff for the data collection exercise,” a source from the Census Commissioner’s office said. The notification is to be issued by the General Administration Department of the state government.

The state government wants the census and NPR exercise to be completed by June-end when the next academic year is set to begin, according to sources.

While several states ruled by the Congress and other opposition parties have passed resolutions opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Population Register, Maharashtra has not done so.

Thackeray, however, has come out against the National Register for Citizens on the grounds that it would not be possible for the poor to produce relevant documents.