More than 300 applicants under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019 received citizenship certificates from the Union government on Wednesday, according to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla gave the awards to at least 14 recipients in Delhi. Although the applicants’ nationality was first unknown, a government source said that the majority of them were Hindu Pakistanis.
More than four years after the Act was passed by the Parliament in December 2019, the MHA announced the Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024 on March 11, days before the general election announcement. This allowed the CAA to be implemented.
The Citizenship Act, 1955 was modified to make it easier for undocumented migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who belong to six non-Muslim communities—Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian—to register and become naturalized under Section 6B of the CAA. These migrants entered India on or before December 31, 2014, and the qualifying period for citizenship was shortened from the previous requirement of 11 years to five years.
A district level committee (DLC) led by Department of Post officials reviewed online applications submitted through the website indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in, but the Rules give the Director, Census Operations, the final say over citizenship decisions. After the documents were successfully verified, the DLCs gave the applicants the oath of loyalty. It is said that the portal has already received over 25,000 applications.
As Mr. Bhalla awarded the certificates, he emphasized the important aspects of the rules. During the interactive session, prominent executives like the Registrar General of India, the Director of the Intelligence Bureau, the Secretary of Posts, and others were present.
