The central government on Wednesday handed over the first set of citizenship certificates under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Starting the process of granting nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, the certificates were given to 14 people.
According to the Home Ministry, the certificates were handed over by Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla after the applications were processed online through a designated portal.
The CAA was enacted in December 2019 to grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. These include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians.
The BJP-led central government notified the CAA rules in March this year. After the enactment, the CAA got the president's assent but the rules under which the Indian citizenship was granted were issued only on March 11 this year.
"The first set of citizenship certificates after notification of Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 were issued today. Union Home Secretary Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over citizenship certificates to some applicants in New Delhi today. The Home Secretary congratulated the applicants and highlighted salient features of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024. Secretary Posts, Director (IB), Registrar General of India and senior officers were also present during the interactive session," the home ministry said in a statement.
The CAA rules authorise the District Level Committees (DLC) to accept applications of eligible people for Indian citizenship.
The ministry said in its statement that the authorities have been receiving applications from people belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who were persecuted on religious grounds and entered India by December 31 th, 2014.
"After processing as per rules, DLCs have forwarded the applications to the State Level Empowered Committee headed by the Director (Census operation). Processing of applications is completely done through the online portal The Empowered Committee, Delhi headed by Director (Census Operation), Delhi, after due scrutiny, have decided to grant citizenship to 14 applicants," the central government added.
Opposition leaders including West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan vowed that they would not implement the law in their respective states.
(With agencies input)
