NEW DELHI: The ministry of home affairs on Wednesday issued the first set of citizenship certificates under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
“Today itself in Delhi 300 people are being given citizenship under CAA. CAA is the country’s law”, home minister Amit Shah told ANI.
Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over citizenship certificates to first 14 people in New Delhi after their applications were processed online through a designated portal, an official spokesperson said.
Home secretary congratulated the applicants and highlighted the salient features of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 while granting the citizenship.
The Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024, notified by the MHA on March 11, have paved the way for the operationalization of the CAA, which was passed by Parliament in 2019.
As per the regulations, migrants from six minority communities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh can seek Indian citizenship under the CAA, with retrospective effect. This was made possible following the enactment of law.
Under CAA 2019 amendment, migrants who entered India by December 31, 2014, and had suffered “religious persecution or fear of religious persecution” in their country of origin, were made eligible for citizenship by the new law. These type of migrants will be granted fast track Indian citizenship in six years.
The amendment also relaxed the residence requirement for naturalization of these migrants from eleven years to five.
(With agency inputs)
“Today itself in Delhi 300 people are being given citizenship under CAA. CAA is the country’s law”, home minister Amit Shah told ANI.
Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over citizenship certificates to first 14 people in New Delhi after their applications were processed online through a designated portal, an official spokesperson said.
Home secretary congratulated the applicants and highlighted the salient features of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 while granting the citizenship.
The Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024, notified by the MHA on March 11, have paved the way for the operationalization of the CAA, which was passed by Parliament in 2019.
As per the regulations, migrants from six minority communities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh can seek Indian citizenship under the CAA, with retrospective effect. This was made possible following the enactment of law.
Under CAA 2019 amendment, migrants who entered India by December 31, 2014, and had suffered “religious persecution or fear of religious persecution” in their country of origin, were made eligible for citizenship by the new law. These type of migrants will be granted fast track Indian citizenship in six years.
The amendment also relaxed the residence requirement for naturalization of these migrants from eleven years to five.
(With agency inputs)
