Consensus on census enumeration reached, says Kerala govt

Thiruvananthapuram : A consensus was reached at an all-party meeting convened by the ruling Left to reduce any confusion with regard to the census enumeration and discuss matters related to its proceedings in the state, Kerala government said on Monday. The government, which has put on hold the National Population Register (NPR) activities in the state, had called for the meeting to lessen any confusion with regard to the census enumeration.

"NPR was already stayed by the state. There is no need for any kind of worry over the census process. The details from the Census is very important for the country''s planning and development. The National Register of Citizen (NRC) will come from the NPR. Here, we will not allow any kind of NPR process and we had informed the Centre about it," the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

He said there are 31 questions in census questionnaire and there was no much difference from that of the 2011 census.

"It''s quite common that a concern is raised about the census proceedings in today''s scenario of the country. We have taken all the necessary steps to allay the fears with regard to that," Vijayan said.

The all-party meet was convened after some members of the Congress-led UDF raised fears that along with census, queries regarding the NPR could also figure during the enumeration.

Earlier, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front government had assured the state assembly it would not implement the NPR but would go ahead with the census process.

It had in December last ordered stoppage of all activities in connection with NPR in the state considering ''apprehensions'' of the public that it would lead to the National Register of Citizenship (NRC) in the wake of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala said the census process must be initiated only after receiving a proper explanation from the Centre over the NPR.

"The Centre is yet to approve the state''s decision to conduct Census proceedings without NPR. The Centre is still adamant even after 10 states clarified that they will not conduct the NPR. We feel that if the census process are initiated from April 1, without receiving a proper clarification from the Centre on NPR, it will lead to NCR," Chennithala said.

He said the United Democratic Front (UDF) has expressed its strong protest against the census proceedings without getting a clarification from the Centre over the NPR.