GUWAHATI, March 11: Altogether 39 persons in Assam have applied for Indian citizenship since the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was implemented last year, while two of them have been granted citizenship so far, state parliamentary affairs minister Chandra Mohan Patowary informed the Assembly.
The minister, who was replying on behalf of the chief minister, further informed that 18 applications for citizenship under CAA were under consideration.
“Even as the remaining 19 applications have been closed, the applicants have the provision for re-applying,” Patowary said.
It may be recalled that the Ministry of Home Affairs had, on March 11, 2024, notified the Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024 to enable implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed by the Parliament in 2019.
Persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, or Christian communities, who migrated from Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan to India on or before December 31, 2014, can apply for Indian citizenship under CAA.
Four months after the Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024 were notified, there were only eight applicants for citizenship under the Act. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had then informed that various outreach programmes were organised in Barak Valley to encourage more applications under CAA.
Meanwhile, state parliamentary affairs minister informed the House that as many 156 Bangladeshi nationals were apprehended in the state between 2021 and 2024.
The minister said 51 such illegal migrants were apprehended in 2021, 57 in 2022, 22 in 2023 while 26 of them were apprehended in 2024.