Granting citizenship under CAA begins in Bengal, Haryana, Uttarakhand: MHA

The development comes as the seventh phase of voting for the Lok Sabha elections is set to take place on June 1 in several constituencies across West Bengal

The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) said the process of granting citizenship under the new Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA has now commenced in West Bengal, Haryana and Uttarakhand with the first set of citizenship certificates handed over to the eligible individuals by the empowered committees in the states on Wednesday.

The MHA began handing over the first set of citizenship certificates on May 15 in Delhi. (File Photo)

The development comes as the seventh phase of voting for the Lok Sabha elections is set to take place on June 1 in the constituencies of Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, Diamond Harbour, Jadavpur, Kolkata Dakshin, Kolkata Uttar parliamentary constituencies across West Bengal.

After notifying Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, on March 11 this year, the MHA began handing over the first set of citizenship certificates on May 15 in Delhi, handing over around 300 citizenships on the first day.

Under the CAA, citizenships are granted to the persecuted minorities belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

“The process of granting citizenship certificates under the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 has now commenced in the state of West Bengal, where the first set of applications from the State were today granted citizenship by the Empowered Committee, West Bengal. Similarly, the Empowered Committees of the states of Haryana and Uttarakhand have also granted citizenship today to the first set of applicants in their respective States, under the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024,” MHA said in a statement on Wednesday.

CAA was passed in December 2019, but the underlying rules were not framed. Its passage resulted in protests that petered out only with the COVID-19 pandemic and a clutch of petitions that remain before the Supreme Court.

CAA is in keeping with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s promise in its 2019 manifesto but was criticised by Opposition parties who linked it to the elections.

A number of opposition leaders, such as West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, have said that they oppose CAA because it curtails constitutional rights.

Union home minister Amit Shah said on May 14 that Mamata Banerjee won’t be able to stop CAA implementation.

The CAA rules have a provision that states that refugees from six minority communities from the three countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan) applying for the grant of citizenship by registration or naturalisation will have to submit an application, an affidavit verifying the correctness of the statements made in it, a second affidavit from an Indian citizen testifying to their character, and a declaration that they are familiar with one of the languages specified in the eighth schedule of the Constitution.

The rules say that the application will have to be submitted in electronic form to an empowered committee through the district-level committee, which may be notified by the central government, and be supported by documents such as copy of passport issued by Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangladesh governments – birth certificate, an identity document of any other kind, land or tenancy records, or any document that shows that either of the parents or grandparents or great grandparents of the applicant were a citizen of one of the three countries.

The rules state that these documents will be admissible even beyond their validity period.

Applicants also have to provide proof that they entered India before December 31, 2014, which can take the form of either a visa and immigration stamp, registration certificate from the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO), or slip issued by the Census enumerators in India, government-issued licence or certificate or permit in India (including Driving License, Aadhaar number, ration card, or marriage certificate issued in India etc).