Over two months after notifying rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the first set of citizenship certificates under the Act was issued on Wednesday in Delhi to 14 people.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over the certificates to the applicants after their applications were processed online through a designated portal, an official spokesperson said, reports PTI.
“The Empowered Committee, Delhi headed by Director (Census Operation), Delhi, after due scrutiny, have decided to grant citizenship to 14 applicants. Accordingly, Director (Census operation) granted certificates to these applicants,” an MHA spokesperson said in a statement.
“The first set of citizenship certificates after notification of 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 had notified the Rules for CAA, paving way for the implementation of the controversial law, more than four years after it was passed by the Parliament.
The CAA was enacted in December 2019 for granting 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.
After the enactment, the CAA got the president’s assent but the rules under which the Indian citizenship was granted were issued only on March 11 this year after over four years delay.