14 people get first set of UAA Citizenship Certificates
14 persons got the first set of citizenship certificates under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on Wednesday, about two months after the rules were declared by the Centre. Under CAA, minorities persecuted on religious grounds in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan can gain citizenship in India.
Got Indian citizenship for the first time under CAA, 14 people got citizenship certificate
For the first time today, after the notification of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 14 people were given citizenship certificates. Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over… pic.twitter.com/KKAeLZMMbm
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The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified the guidelines on March 11, four years after Parliament approved the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, or CAA.
While the ministry granted citizenship certificates to more than 300 people who applied under the CAA 2019, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said14 people got their citizenship certificates in their hands on Wednesday after their applications were processed online. The certificates were handed over by Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla.
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CAA was passed in Indian Parliament in December 2019
On March 11, days ahead of the announcement of the general election, the MHA notified the Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024 that enabled the implementation of the CAA, more than four years after the legislation was passed by the Parliament in December 2019.
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.
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The Rules delegate final authority to an empowered committee led by the Director, Census Operations, while applications filed online on the portal indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in were reviewed by a district level committee (DLC) chaired by Department of Post officials.
On successful verification of documents, the DLCs administered the oath of allegiance to the applicants. The portal is said to have received over 25,000 applications so far.
While distributing the certificates, Mr. Bhalla highlighted the important attributes of the Rules. The Secretary, Posts; the Director, Intelligence Bureau; the Registrar General of India, and senior officers were also present during the interactive session.
