On May 15, a press release by the Ministry of Home Affairs provided that the first set of citizenship certificates under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) was issued to 14 people, almost two months after the Centre notified the CAA rules. As per the press release, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla physically handed over the citizenship certificates to the 14 recipients, congratulating them.
It is essential to note that the ministry has also specified that many other applicants are being given digitally signed certificates through email. As per the Hindu, more than 300 people who applied under the CAA have been granted citizenship. While the country of origin of the applicants was not made known in the press release, the report of The Hindu provided that a government source had suggested that most applicants were Pakistani Hindus.
As per media reports, while disbursing the certificates, Mr. Bhalla highlighted the salient features of the Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024, through which the implementation of the CAA was ensured. The Rules grant the final authority to accord citizenship to an empowered committee headed by the Director, Census Operations, while the scrutiny of applications filed online on the portal indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in was done by a district level committee (DLC) headed by Department of Post officials. On successful verification of documents, the DLCs administered the oath of allegiance to the applicants. The portal is said to have received over 25,000 applications so far, as provided by The Hindu. The Secretary, Posts; the Director, Intelligence Bureau; the Registrar General of India, and senior officers were also present during the interactive session.
The press release by the MHA can be read here:
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