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What is the difference between the Census and National Population Register?

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In 2010, the population enumeration for preparing a National Population Register along with the house listing operations of the Census of 2011, evoked frequent criticism of the NPR. The use of the National Population Register in Assam to prepare the National Register of Citizens wherein everyone had to prove their citizenship contributed to this criticism. In the process, the benefits of an NPR were ignored.

A population register has been defined by the United Nations as, “an individualized data system, that is, a mechanism of continuous recording, and/or of coordinated linkage, of selected information pertaining to each member of the resident population of a country in such a way to provide the possibility of determining up-to-date information concerning the size and characteristics of that population at selected time intervals”.

The United Nations Member States have the responsibility to recognise all individuals present in their territory as a person before the law, without prejudice to nationality (or lack thereof), legal status, gender or duration of stay. The population register must contain all people who are residing in an area.

The population register needs to be continuously updated for every birth and death. Similarly, it needs to have a system of updating it to take into account international...