Thiruvananthapuram: Allaying fears fanned about the census process in the state, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday asserted that the State will not implement the National Population Register (NPR).
Vijayan told the state assembly that the state government has conveyed this to the central government also.
PTI quoted Vijayan as saying, “Our stance is clear. Kerala will not implement NPR. We have made it known to the Union Government. The fears that are being fanned about the census in Kerala are unfounded. In our state, the census will be carried out only in the usual manner and will not have any business with NPR.”
Opposition members had raised concerns over conducting the census process in the state on which the chief minister maintained: “There is no need to be anxious about the Census.”
The opposition also raised apprehensions about detention centres.
Vijayan told that it was the Congress-led United Democratic Front which had decided to construct detention centres in the state in 2015. The then state home minister Ramesh Chennithala countered that his government gave approval for the centres to keep those who are stranded in the state due to lack of passport or visa. He pointed out that the situation then was unlike what we have now.