The Union Cabinet has given a green signal to the National Population Register project ahead of carrying out the 2021 Census. There are fears that it will be a precursor for the National Register of Citizens project.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking to ANI, has said that the NPR is not a list of citizens. "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 has been quoted saying.

BJP leader Ram Madhav said that the NPR data is not going to be public data. "It will be for the use of government agencies on need basis for implementing govt programs. Data updating is necessary because people change residences, phone numbers, etc. Interstate migrations too happen. States need this update on regular basis," he said.