The Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday notified the rules for implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which was enacted by Parliament in December 2019.
This development comes days ahead of the Lok Sabha election schedule announcement.
“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 Narendra Modi Ji has delivered on another commitment and realised the promise of the makers of our constitution to the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians living in those countries,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in a post on X.
“The applications will be submitted in a completely online mode for which a web portal has been provided,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which sought to fast-track the process of granting Indian citizenship to refugees belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian communities, who came to India on or before December 31, 2024, owing to religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, was passed by the Lok Sabha on December 9, 2019, and the Rajya Sabha two days later. It received the President’s assent on December 12, 2019.
