NPR will not affect anyone's nationality, it is not linked to NRC: Amit Shah

Noting that there was no connection between the detention centre and National Register of Citizens (NRC) or Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday that misinformation was spread on the issue.

He said no detention centre has been created since the Modi government came to power.

In an interview with ANI, Shah said detention centre has been there for years and is for illegal immigrants.

"There is no connection between the detention center and NRC or CAA. The center has been there for years and is for illegal immigrants. Misinformation is being spread on this," he said.

Responding to a query, he said the government has given time of six months to people who have been excluded from Assam's NRC to approach the Foreigners Tribunal.

"We have also made several tribunals for this and nobody has been kept in the detention center. 19 lakh people who have been excluded from the list there are staying at their home only," said Shah.

Shah said there is only one detention centre which has been in existence for years and probably there was no other such centre.

"No detention centre has been made after the Modi-led government came to power," he saio.

Shah said if a person without valid documents is caught in America, he or she will be kept in the detention center or any related arrangement and the process of contacting the respective country's embassy begins.

The government has no plans as of now to carry out an exercise to prepare a National Register of Citizens (NRC) for the whole country on the basis of data to be collected during the updating of National Population Register (NPR) next year, officials said on Tuesday.

The remarks by the home ministry officials came in the backdrop of the controversy over the NRC and the Citizenship Amendment Act.

"There is no proposal as of now to prepare NRC on the basis of NPR data for the whole country," an official said.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also said that there has been no discussion in the government on the NRC.

"Since my government first came to power in 2014, I want to tell 130 crore countrymen, there has never been a discussion on this NRC," he said, noting that it was done only in Assam due to a Supreme Court order.