The Union Home Ministry announced that the Centre issued the first batch of citizenship certificates to 14 individuals under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). This issuance comes nearly four and a half years after the contentious law was enacted.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over the first batch of citizenship certificates to the applicants in New Delhi, congratulating them on their citizenship status. The recipients received their certificates following the notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, by the Home Ministry on March 11 this year.

The Home Ministry has received numerous applications over the past two months from individuals belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

These applicants entered India up to December 31, 2014, citing persecution on religious grounds or fear thereof. The rules outline the application process, the District Level Committee's (DLC) procedure for handling applications, and the scrutiny and granting of citizenship by the state-level Empowered Committee (EC).

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) stated that the District Level Committees (DLCs), led by designated officers such as senior superintendents of post or superintendents of post, administered the oath of allegiance to the applicants upon successful verification of their documents.

Following the prescribed procedure, the District Level Committees (DLCs) have forwarded the applications to the State Level Empowered Committee, led by the Director (Census Operation). The processing of applications is conducted entirely through the online portal, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) added.

On Wednesday, the MHA announced that the Empowered Committee, chaired by the Director in Delhi, has scrutinised the applications and decided to grant citizenship to 14 applicants. Consequently, certificates were granted to these individuals.

CAA was passed in December 2019, but the corresponding rules were not formulated. Its enactment sparked protests, which subsided during the COVID-19 pandemic, while a number of petitions related to it remain pending before the Supreme Court.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee vows to oppose CAA if it undermines the existing rights of Indian citizens. CAA rules mandate refugees from six minority communities in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to submit various documents, including affidavits and language familiarity declarations, for citizenship application.

Under the rules, applicants must submit electronic applications through district-level committees, supported by various documents including passports from Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Bangladesh, birth certificates, and other identity records demonstrating familial citizenship ties to these countries.

The rules allow for the submission of documents beyond their expiry date. Applicants must prove their entry into India before December 31, 2014, with acceptable proofs like visas, registration certificates, or government-issued IDs.

Image source: Times of India