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Centre hands over first set of citizenship documents under CAA
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was implemented earlier this year.
The Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday handed over citizenship certificates to 14 people under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The law was passed by the parliament in 2019. The BJP-led Central government, however, notified the CAA rules in March this year.
In its Lok Sabha elections manifesto, the BJP promised that it would grant citizenship to eligible applicants under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over the documents to some applicants in the national capital.
"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 today.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act was notified by the Central government on March 11, weeks before the commencement of the Lok Sabha elections. The CAA rules authorize the District Level Committees (DLC) to accept applications of eligible people for Indian citizenship. They empower the State Level Empowered Committee to scrutinize the applications ahead of granting 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.
It further said the DLCs, which are chaired by designated officers, have administered oath of allegiance to the applicants after verification of documents.
"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.
Several Opposition leaders, including West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, have vowed that they will not implement the law in their respective states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union minister Amit Shah, on the other hand, have promised that the law will be implemented across the country.
The Opposition claims CAA discriminates against Muslims and is unconstitutional. The BJP accuses the Opposition of misleading the Muslims for vote bank politics, saying that the law is not aimed at snatching away their citizenship.
