NEW DELHI: Over two months after notifying rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Union Government on Wednesday issued the first set of citizenship certificates under the Act to 14 people in Delhi.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over the certificates to the refugees after their applications were processed online through a designated portal, an official spokesperson said.
“The Empowered Committee, Delhi, headed by the Director (Census Operation), Delhi, after due scrutiny, has decided to grant citizenship to 14 applicants. Accordingly, Director (Census Operation) granted certificates to these applicants,” said a statement by the MHA spokesperson.
“The first set of citizenship certificates after notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, were issued today. Bhalla handed over citizenship certificates to some applicants in New Delhi and also congratulated the applicants and highlighted salient features of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024,” the spokesperson said.
On March 11, the Union Government officially announced the Regulations for CAA, marking the commencement of the contentious law’s enforcement. This significant step comes over four years after the law was passed by Parliament.
The CAA was enacted in December 2019 to grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. These include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians. The Act got the President’s approval; however, the regulations for granting Indian citizenship were issued only on March 11 this year after a delay of more than four years.
In an X post, Home Minister Amit Shah termed it a “historic day.” “Today the wait of decades has ended, and through CAA, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian brothers and sisters who came to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan due to religious persecution have started getting Indian citizenship. Today Narendra Modi-ji has fulfilled the promise made at the time of independence,” the Home Minister said.
“I express my gratitude to Modi ji for giving justice and rights to these people who have been suffering for decades. Also, I assure all our refugee sisters and brothers that the Modi government will continue to provide citizenship to every refugee through CAA,” he added in his X post.
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