3 months ago
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The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) connected Friday (February 21, 2026) notified different empowered committee comprising Census, postal and Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials successful West Bengal to fast-track hundreds of pending citizenship applications nether the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) amid the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls successful West Bengal.
Several radical belonging to the Matua community, comprising Hindu Namasudras with roots successful Bangladesh, person applied for citizenship nether the CAA arsenic their names are not determination successful the 2002 electoral list, the threshold for the ongoing SIR exercise.
A authorities root said though an Empowered Committee headed by the Director, Census Operations to process CAA applications, exists successful each States, different specified committee headed by the Deputy Registrar General, Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal has been notified lone for Bengal successful the aftermath of deluge of citizenship requests.
“This is an further committee that volition process and fast-track CAA applications successful West Bengal,” said the source.
The committee volition comprise an serviceman successful the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau not beneath the fertile of Deputy Secretary, 2 Under Secretary fertile officials to beryllium nominated by the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (FRRO) and National Informatics Centre of West Bengal, respectively and the Post Master General of the State.
A typical from the bureau of the Principal Secretary (Home) oregon Additional Chief Secretary (Home) of the State authorities of West Bengal and a typical of the jurisdictional Divisional Railway Manager of Railways would beryllium the peculiar invitees, the notification said.
On March 11, 2024 days up of the announcement of the wide elections, the MHA notified the Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024 enabling the implementation of the CAA, 4 years aft the authorities was passed successful 2019.
The Act facilitates citizenship to undocumented radical belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, Christian and Jain assemblage from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered India connected oregon earlier December 31, 2014 and fast-tracks the process by reducing the eligibility to 5 years continuous enactment alternatively of 12 years.
Though the authorities was brought successful for undocumented migrants, the Rules mentioned respective documents to beryllium provided by the applicants, including a papers issued by a authorities authorization successful Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Though earlier, respective members of the Matua assemblage were sheepish astir applying nether the CAA arsenic they came from Bangladesh without immoderate documents, aft the SIR was announced successful West Bengal, determination has been a important summation successful specified requests.
Considerable beingness
The Matuas began migrating from Bangladesh successful 1947 and continued to get successful India some earlier and aft the warfare successful 1971 that liberated what was past East Pakistan from West Pakistan. In West Bengal, the assemblage has a sizeable beingness successful borderline districts specified arsenic North 24 Parganas, Nadia, Howrah, Cooch Behar, and Malda, and are the State’s 2nd largest Scheduled Caste community.
As the CAA was opposed by galore States, including West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, successful bid to bypass the relation of the State authorities successful implementing the law, the MHA notified committees headed by Census and postal section officials who are Central authorities functionaries, leaving nary scope for the engagement of State authorities officials.
Citizenship is simply a taxable nether the Union List of the Constitution and the State’s relation could person travel successful play successful providing logistics specified arsenic bureau abstraction and constabulary verification of applicants.
