PMK welcomes Centre's clarification on NPR

Chennai: NDA constituent PMK on Friday welcomed the Centre's announcement that no citizen will be marked 'D' or 'doubtful' during the National Population Register updationexcercise, expressing hope it will allay fears among the Muslims on the issue.

PMK founder S Ramadoss also welcomed the Tamil Nadu government putting on hold the NPR exercise, saying the Centre has not responded to its concerns over some new features.

"It is (a) welcome (step) the Tamil Nadu government putting on hold the NPR till some concerns were addressed, besides the Centre announcing that nobody will be marked as doubtful," the PMK chief said in a tweet.

He expressed confidence that the clarifications by the Centre and state government will allay the fears "among the Muslim brothers" and ensure hope and relief for them.

He urged that "three controversial questions" should be removed in the NPR but did not



specify.

On Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said no citizen will be marked 'D' or 'doubtful' during the NPR exercise and no documents were needed to be furnished to prove citizenship.

Also, it was not compulsory to provide any information not available with an individual, he said.

The AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu on Thursday said it has put on hold the NPR exercise, saying the Centre has not responded to its concerns over some new features.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami has written to the Centre seeking appropriate amendments to the provisions to allay the fears of minority communities, especially Muslims, over queries like Aadhaar and details of parents and the Centre was yet to respond, Revenue Minister R B Udhayakumar had said.

The updation of the NPR is to be done during six months beginning April 1 with enumerators seeking demographic and other particulars of each family and individuals.