Under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), citizenship has been granted to 14 refugees for the first time. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued certificates to these 14 refugees.
Central Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over the citizenship certificates and congratulated the applicants. He briefed about the features of the Citizenship Amendment Rules 2024.
With this step by the central government, the process of granting citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants who have faced persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and have come to India has commenced. Several other applicants are receiving digitally signed certificates via email.
On March 11, the central government issued a notification regarding the CAA, under which applications were invited for obtaining citizenship.
The condition was that the applicant must have resided in the country for at least 12 months prior to the application date.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2016. While it passed in the lower house, it faced a roadblock in the Rajya Sabha.
Subsequently, during the second term of the Modi government in 2019, it was reintroduced in the Lok Sabha. After receiving the President's assent, the bill was passed in both houses and became law on January 10, 2020. The gazette notification for this was issued on March 11 this year.