70 applied for Citizenship under CAA, 6 approved so far: Assam government

A total of 70 migrants residing in Assam have applied for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), with six applicants having been granted citizenship so far, the Assam government informed the Assembly on July 7.

Responding to a question on the opening day of the Budget Session, the government said the applications were processed under the CAA, which was enacted by Parliament in 2019 and came into force in March 2024 after the Union government notified the rules.

The CAA provides a pathway to Indian citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

In another reply tabled in the House, the government stated that 1,72,673 foreigners have been detected in Assam so far, while 31,786 have been deported.

The government also informed the Assembly that 1,572 illegal migrants have been pushed back to Bangladesh under the provisions of the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, since May 2 last year. Of those pushed back, 866 were from Sribhumi district and 357 from Cachar district. The government further said that 68 illegal migrants apprehended by the Railway Police were also among those pushed back.

The implementation of the CAA has remained a politically sensitive issue in Assam. The state witnessed widespread protests both before and after the legislation was enacted, with the agitation resulting in several deaths.

Earlier this week, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that the number of doubtful voters among Bengali Hindus in Assam is below one lakh and that none of them are currently lodged in detention centres.

The Chief Minister also said the number is expected to increase once the Registrar General of India finalises the 2019 draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), as Bengali Hindus excluded from the NRC would subsequently be required to apply for citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.