Confusion with UID Aadhaar evokes tepid response

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Fewer people than expected are queueing up to get themselves bio-metrically-enrolled under the mandatory National Population Register (NPR), Census officials said.    Reason -  confusion between the NPR and the UID  Aadhaar project.The phenomenon is more pronounced in the urban areas than in the rural ones.The Directorate of Census Operations, Kerala, opened collection of bio-metric data in Thiruvananthapuram starting with Governor M O H Farook last week.  Although NPR is a mandatory exercise under the Citizenship Act, people are less aware of it. Section 14 (a) of the Act pertains to issue of national identity cards and says the Government may compulsorily register all citizens and issue national identity cards.But those already registered under UID Aadhaar are quite reluctant to queue up again not knowing the difference between the two, Census officials said. This, coupled with the general apathy in bustling urban areas to such initiatives are cited as the  reasons for the lukewarm  response.NPR is a prelude to the Citizenship Register. In fact, it is a pre-requisite and people who have not registered under the NPR could find it difficult later on to get enrolled in the Citizenship Register, said deputy director, Census Operations, N Rajeev. In northern districts, where bio-metric enrolment was undertaken over the past few months, the public response was around 80-85 per cent. Same cannot be said of cities such as Kochi, and thus far, Thiruvananthapuram, he said.Demographic data for NPR had been collected during the houselisting phase of Census 2011, and currently, the bio-metric registration (both irises, prints of ten fingers and photograph) is on.NPR biometric enrolment will be conducted twice in each locality, and a district-level camp is planned for those who missed the local camps.The Directorate of Census Operations hopes to complete the exercise in Thiruvananthapuram in five months’ time.