Setting Stage For National Population Register, HM Amit Shah Says Census 2021 Will Be ‘Digital’

Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Census 2021 would be carried out through a mobile app and that the centre would spend around Rs 12,000 crore on the next census as well as the preparation of the National Population Register (NPR)

With the use of digital technology, Shah said, Census 2021 had the potential to club all other forms of identification such as Aadhaar, PAN, driving license and electors photo identity card (EPIC) under one platform.

“A mobile app will be used in Census 2021. It will be a transformation from paper census to digital census," he was quoted as saying by Livemint.

The centre has already set a target for rolling out NPR by September 2020 which will act as the base for carrying out a pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC) as was carried out in Assam.

“Population census is an exercise that helps to provide people the benefits of the government schemes. National Population Register (NPR) will help government solve many issues in the country… the Census 2011 data was used for Ujjwala Yojana to increase domestic LPG cylinder coverage," he said.

The home minster further stated that through the NPR, India would have a “multipurpose identity document that will have all details like Aadhaar and PAN card."