In a major announcement by the Modi government ahead of the announcement of the dates for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls , the Centre on announced the implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 for granting citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.
With the CAA rules being issued, the Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants — Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians — from the three countries.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah Tweeted on X
The Modi government today notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024.
These rules will now enable minorities persecuted on religious grounds in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to acquire citizenship in our nation.
With this notification PM Shri @narendramodi Ji has…
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) March 11, 2024
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.
“These rules, called the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 will enable the persons eligible under CAA-2019 to apply for the grant of Indian citizenship,” a home ministry spokesperson said.
“The applications will be submitted in a completely online mode for which a web portal has been provided,” the spokesperson added.
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.
The Constitution of India grants us the right to provide religious persecuted refugees with fundamental rights and to grant citizenship from a humanitarian perspective. The implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act was delayed due to the COVID pandemic: Ministry of Home Affairs in statement said.
दिसंबर 2019 में संसद द्वारा पारित नागरिकता संशोधन अधिनियम के नियमों को अधिसूचित करने में मोदी सरकार को चार साल और तीन महीने लग गए। प्रधानमंत्री दावा करते हैं कि उनकी सरकार बिल्कुल प्रोफेशनल ढंग से और समयबद्ध तरीक़े से काम करती है। सीएए के नियमों को अधिसूचित करने में लिया गया इतना…
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) March 11, 2024
On CAA notification, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal quoted by ANI said , “…Why this delay? If the govt had some sincerity on this issue, they could have given this order four years ago…This is being done before the announcement of the elections to divert the attention…”
