New Delhi, December 24: The National Register of Citizens or NRC and National Population Register (NPR) are not connected with each other, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah in an interview on Tuesday. "There is no link between National Register of Citizens and National Population Register, I am clearly stating this today," Amit Shah said, adding that data collected in NPR won't be used for pan-India NRC. Why Citizenship Amendment Act+NRC Raise Fear And Concerns: A Multi-Dimensional Take.

Shah also endorsed Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said that the NRC was not being considered. "There is no need to debate this (pan-India NRC) as there is no discussion on it right now. PM Modi was right, there is no discussion on it yet either in the Cabinet or Parliament," the Union Minister said. Reacting to the Union Cabinet's nod to a proposal for updation of NPR, he said that it will not affect the nationality status of any citizen. NRC Row: No Proposal For Nationwide National Register of Citizen Based on NPR Data, Says Government.

"NPR will not affect anyone’s nationality. Even if somebody’s name is missing from NPR, then too his citizenship will not be threatened," Shah said. "It is possible that some names are missed in the NPR, still their citizenship will not be revoked because this is not the process of NRC. The NRC is a different process. I want to make it clear that nobody will lose citizenship because of NPR," he added. Shah also said that no one is being sent to detention centres.

"Detention centres are a continuous process. If a foreigner is arrested without documents, he is kept at detention centres and they are deported later. Detention centres have nothing to do with NRC," Shah said. "We have not kept anybody in detention centres. People left out in NRC in Assam are living in their homes. There is only one detention centre in Assam, and it's been there for years. No detention centre has been built under the Prime Minister Modi government," he asserted.

Asked about criticism on the Citizenship Amendment Act, Shah said: "The CAA doesn't have the provision whereby citizenship will be taken away from someone. It is an act which gives citizenship. Minorities have nothing to fear." "Some parties are opposing it (National Population Register) so that minorities don't get the benefits of government schemes. Some people are trying to make people afraid of NPR, as fear against the Citizenship Amendment Act has ended," he alleged.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 24, 2019 07:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).