HYDERABAD: The State government would put on hold the National Population Register (NPR) work for the time being. It would move a resolution in the Legislative Assembly urging the Centre to implement the old format of NPR, instead of the revised one proposed for 2020 Census. Sources close to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao told Express on Wednesday that the TRS government was against the new format of the NPR.
Along with a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the Assembly, another resolution suggesting the Centre to dispense with the new format of NPR too would be adopted in the forthcoming budget session of the Legislature, the sources said. The State can take up the census for 45 days between March 1 and September 30. Given this, the government, which has opposed the CAA, also wants to buy some time to take up the NPR work. It may be mentioned here that the States like West Bengal and Kerala have decided to put NPR work on hold.
The TS too would follow suit, the sources said. Though the States cannot stop the NPR work, the move to stop all the activities with regard to NPR would bring some pressure on the Centre to make some modifications in the new NPR format, the sources added.
Top official shunted out
A senior IAS officer issuing orders to carry out NPR work when TS has decided to put it on hold has irked the government. According to sources, the officer was shunted out of the GAD some time ago. He was posted in a relatively less important department. But when his orders created flutter in several departments, the State transferred him again recently. He has not been given any posting so far.
Earlier, based on the orders issued by the officer, the School Education Department issued instructions to schools not to schedule any examination between January 1 and March 15, 2021. Some district collectors too issued similar orders. Coming to know of this, the government transferred him again, the sources said.