NPR in a new avatar invades right to privacy: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday alleged that the government is trying to bring in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) "in the guise of the National Population Register (NPR)".

Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken said if the government does not bring in the NPR form that was introduced during the UPA regime, the Congress will oppose the whole exercise.

The Congress alleged that the government has started the process with the NPR, which is the first step of the final NRC. It said the pre-test form also invades the right to privacy as it demanded such papers as the Aadhaar number, mobile number and the driving licence.

The Congress said that during UPA era, the NPR was only a population register while the BJP government is introducing a sort of NRC in disguise of NPR, as the document details demanded listing of the same as in the NRC.

Therefore, the government should make public the questionnaire, which is not like during the UPA regime.

The Congress is totally against the NRC and now BJP is trying to bring it in the garb of the NPR.