Process of granting citizenship certificates under CAA commences in Bengal

Kolkata, May 30 , 2024 : As promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the process of granting citizenship certificates under the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, has commenced in West Bengal, a government communiqué said on Thursday. “The first set of applications from the state was granted citizenship by the Empowered Committee, West Bengal, on Wednesday,” the communication said, the day when Modi at Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas assured that the CAA is only to accord Indian citizenship to the refugees, who have come after being persecuted on religious grounds in other countries. The Empowered Committees of the states of Haryana and Uttarakhand have also granted citizenship on Wednesday to the first set of applicants in their respective states, under the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024. The first set of citizenship certificates after notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, granted by the Empowered Committee, Delhi, were handed over to the applicants in New Delhi by the Union Home Secretary on May 15, 2024. “The Government of India notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, on March 11, 2024. The Rules envisage the manner of the application form, the procedure for processing applications by the District Level Committee (DLC), and the scrutiny and grant of citizenship by the State-Level Empowered Committee (EC). The processing of applications is done completely through the online portal. In pursuance of these rules, applications have been received from persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who have entered India up to December 31, 2014, on account of persecution on grounds of religion or fear of such persecution,” the communication said.