The Punjab government on Saturday denied that training was being imparted to the field staff for the National Population Register (NPR) exercise in the State, saying there was no question of going against the Assembly resolution on the issue .
“The ongoing training is a routine exercise related to the conduct of housing census, scheduled to take place in Punjab in May-June, and had absolutely nothing to do with NPR,” said an official statement.
The statement added that Sanjay Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary (local government), had given clear instructions to this effect to the Deputy Commissioners during a recent workshop. The DCs were asked to exclude the NPR training chapter from this exercise, it added.
The resolution passed by the State Assembly in January had categorically rejected the NPR.
It stated: “Given the apprehensions about National Register of Citizens and that the National Population Register is a prelude to the NRC designed to deprive a section of persons from citizenship of India and implement CAA, this House further resolves that Central government should amend the forms-documentation associated with the NPR to allay such apprehension in the minds of the people and only thereafter undertake work of enumeration under NPR.”
