The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is expected to notify the regulation for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on Monday, sources told LiveMint. The CAA laws were introduced by the Narendra Modi government in 2019 to allow eligible individuals to obtain Indian citizenship.
The amendment in the Citizenship Act was followed by a massive protest in India against the move. To necessitate the entire process of applying for citizenship under CAA rules, an online portal has been prepared to facilitate the whole process digitally, an official told news agency ANI.
“The regulations are prepared, and an online portal is already set up for the entire process, which will be conducted digitally. Applicants will need to disclose the year of their entry into India without any travel documents. No additional documentation will be required from the applicants,” ANI quoted the official as saying.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on Monday evening ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. There are chances of some big announcements by the Prime Minister in his address.
About CAA laws
The CAA rules confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants – including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians – who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
According to an official, the CAA law can be implemented by a notification from the Ministry of Home Affairs, opening doors for eligible individuals to seek Indian citizenship.
To complete the process of framing the rules associated with the CAA legislation, the Ministry of Home Affairs has been regularly seeking extensions from the parliamentary committees to continue the process of framing the rules associated with the legislation. The extensions have been given as per the manual of parliamentary procedure, which makes the formulation of guidelines mandatory within six months of receiving the presidential assent. Otherwise, the government should have sought an extension from the Committees on Subordinate Legislation in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.