The Centre on Monday announced the official implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 which aims to facilitate the granting of citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
The implementation of CAA indicates granting of Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan by the Modi government.
This includes Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians who arrived in India until December 31, 2014.
According to Ministry of Home Affairs, the CAA Rules, 2024 will enable the individuals under CAA-2019 to apply for the grant of Indian citizenship.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has readied a portal for the convenience of the applicants as the entire process will be online. The applicants will have to declare the year when they entered India without travel documents.
An official told PTI that no document will be sought from the applicants during its process.
How to apply for Indian Citizenship under CAA rules?
An individual has to go to the Indian Citizenship Online website and click on the appropriate section of the Citizenship Act, 1955 under which applicant fulfills the eligibility criteria and check for ‘Eligibility Criteria’.
Further, the applicant can check the required documents by clicking on ‘Required Documents’ link and check whether his case falls under passport details exemption category or not by clicking on ‘Passport Details Exemption for specific persons’ link.
After that, the applicant has to fill out their information and follow the instructions on the website to receive a MHA File Number.
According to the Manual on Parliamentary Work, the rules for any legislation should be framed within six months of presidential assent or the government has to seek an extension from the Committees on Subordinate Legislation in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Since 2020, the Home Ministry has been taking extensions at regular intervals from the parliamentary committee for framing the rules.
The CAA was passed in December 2019 and subsequently got the president's assent but there were protests in several parts of the country against it.
The law could not come into effect as rules had not been notified till now.
Over a hundred people lost their lives during the anti-CAA protests or police action.
