On Wednesday, Javadekar said that the NPR questions on parents’ birth will be considered dropped if they are not answered as they are optional.
New Delhi| Responding to questions at a briefing on Cabinet decisions on Wednesday, Information and broadcasting minister said questions pertaining to date and place of birth of parents in the National Population Register (NPR) could remain while furnishing such details as made clear previously will be optional.
āWhen I briefed you about NPR, I told you very clearly that there are many questions that are optional. If you remember the place and date of birth of your father and mother, then give it; if you donāt remember, then donāt give it,ā Union Minister Javadekar said to Reporters
When asked if the demand to remove the questions will be considered, Javadekar said: “No, it is not like thatā¦ The question will be considered dropped as only those who want to respond will do so.”
Union Minister and leader of BJP ally Lok Janshakti Party Paswan, while speaking to The Indian Express on Wednesday, said nobody can be deprived of citizenship just because he/ she does not know his/ her parents’ date and place of birth.
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Paswan said āIf you donāt know your parentsā date of birth, that column will be left blank. Whatever information you give regarding the date of birth, it will be considered as a document. No documentary proof will be required for this.” He also said that he, too, did not know the date of birth of his parents.
Meanwhile, Javadekar said that when the then Congress government brought in the NPR in 2010, it was welcomed. He said the NRC too was brought by the Congress, under then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. “Then, it is good; we did not even bring it, and we are bad,” he said.
The questions on date and place of birth of parents had triggered the fear that the information will be used to prepare NRC which further fueled the intensity of nationwide protests.
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