BuzzBytes New Delhi, March 11: In a prelude to the upcoming Lok Sabha election, the Central government on Monday declared the implementation of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, allowing for the granting of citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.With the issuance of CAA rules, the Modi government is set to confer Indian nationality on persecuted non-Muslim migrants — including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians — from the aforementioned countries.The CAA, passed in December 2019 and subsequently receiving the president’s assent, faced protests across the country. The law had been in limbo as rules required for its enforcement had not been notified until now.“These rules, called the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, will enable persons eligible under CAA-2019 to apply for the grant of Indian citizenship,” stated a Home Ministry spokesperson.“The applications will be submitted in a completely online mode for which a web portal has been provided,” the spokesperson added.According to the Manual on Parliamentary Work, rules for any legislation should be framed within six months of presidential assent, or the government must seek an extension from the Committees on Subordinate Legislation in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.Since 2020, the Home Ministry has regularly sought extensions from the parliamentary committee for framing the rules.No documents will be required from the applicants, as per an official statement.Over 100 lives were lost during anti-CAA protests or police actions.On December 27, 2023, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that no one could stop the implementation of the CAA, branding it as the law of the land. He accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of misguiding people on the issue.Addressing a party meeting in Kolkata, Shah emphasized the BJP’s commitment to implementing the CAA. The TMC, led by Mamata Banerjee, has been consistently opposing the CAA.The BJP had prominently featured the promise of implementing the contentious CAA in its campaign during the last Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in West Bengal, considering it a significant factor contributing to the party’s rise in the state.In the past two years, over 30 district magistrates and home secretaries in nine states have been empowered to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan under the Citizenship Act, 1955.According to the annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs for 2021-22, a total of 1,414 foreigners from non-Muslim minority communities in these three countries were granted Indian citizenship by registration or naturalization under the Citizenship Act, 1955, from April 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021.The nine states where Indian citizenship by registration or naturalization is granted to non-Muslim minorities from the specified countries are Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Maharashtra.Authorities in sensitive districts of Assam and West Bengal, where the CAA issue holds significant political sensitivity, have not been delegated such powers so far.
Government Announces Implementation Of CAA Four Years After It Was Passed
