Collectors empowered to grant citizenship under CAA, Pg14

Key Highlights:

• The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has transferred the processing of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, applications from Empowered Committees to District Collectors.
• This change applies to eight specific States and Union Territories: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam (except tribal areas), Tripura (except tribal areas), Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
• The transfer of authority was formalized through the Citizenship (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026, which were notified on August 19.
• District Collectors in these regions are now empowered to receive, scrutinize, and dispose of applications for registration or naturalization under Section 6B of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

Detailed Insights:

• The CAA, 2019, aims to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted religious minorities, specifically Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
• Previously, the Citizenship Rules, 2024, had established Empowered Committees, comprising Central government officials, to handle these applications.
• The August 19 order effectively makes the March 11, 2024, MHA notification, which implemented the 2024 rules, inapplicable to the specified jurisdictions.
• Citizenship is a subject listed under the Union List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, granting the Parliament exclusive power to legislate on it.
• This move is seen as a measure to streamline the application process and potentially bypass the involvement of state governments, particularly in states that have expressed opposition to the CAA.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019: A law that amends the Citizenship Act, 1955, to provide a path to Indian citizenship for specific non-Muslim religious minorities from three neighboring countries.
• Citizenship Act, 1955: The principal legislation in India that governs the acquisition, determination, and termination of Indian citizenship.
• Union List: One of the three lists in the Seventh Schedule of the Indian Constitution, enumerating subjects on which only the Parliament has the power to make laws.
• Naturalisation: A legal process by which a foreign national can acquire the citizenship of a country after fulfilling certain residency and other prescribed requirements.