Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy stated that States can neither refuse to carry out the Census and the National Population Register (NPR) exercise nor stop the process. He said since both the Census and the NPR were to be conducted as per the Constitution, there is no escape for any state.
“Some states are saying we will not conduct it or the cabinet will take a final decision,” he said in an obvious reference to West Bengal and Kerala, which have stopped NPR related work. Reddy told a news conference on Monday that the government employees also can”t refuse to be part of the Census and the NPR, which will be conducted simultaneously during 2020-21. He also added that there is no major difference between Census and NPR. The minister assured the Muslims that the Narendra Modi government neither has any proposal to make a law to drive any Indian citizen out of the country nor it has powers under the Constitution to do so. He slammed the opposition parties for creating fear among Muslims to serve their political interests.
“No Indian will be asked to leave the country. The Constitution is the holy book for government. We are honestly following it. We will not go against the Constitution,” he said. The BJP leader also denied that detention centres were built to keep people of any community. He claimed that such centres were built in Assam and Bengaluru during the Congress rule for the foreigners illegally overstaying in India.
