Centre gives nod to 'minorities' from Afghanistan, Pakistan & Bangladesh to apply for citizenship in India

NEW DELHI: The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a notification yesterday and made it possible for minorities of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh living in certain districts of India to apply for Indian Citizenship.

The mentioned districts in the notification are -

1. Morbi, Rajkot, Patan and Vadodara in the State of Gujarat.

2. Durg and Balodabazar in the State of Chhattisgarh.

3. Jalore, Udaipur, Pali, Barmer and Sirohi in the State of Rajasthan.

4. Faridabad in the State of Haryana.

5. Jalandhar in the State of Punjab.

The collectors of these above-mentioned districts can execute the powers of the Central Government under section 5.

Also, the Secretary of the Department of Home of the States of Haryana and Punjab can exercise this power in the States except for the district of Faridabad in Haryana and the district of Jalandhar in Punjab, in accordance with the provisions of the Citizenship Rules, 2009.

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The procedure is described as follows:

(1) the application for registration as a citizen of India or grant of certificate of naturalisation as citizen of India under the said rules shall be made by the applicant online;

(2) The verification of the application is done simultaneously by the Collector or the Secretary, as the case may be, at the district level and the State level, and the application and the reports thereon shall be made accessible simultaneously to the Central Government on the online portal.

(3) the Collector or the Secretary, as the case may be, makes such inquiry as he considers necessary for ascertaining the suitability of the applicant and for that purpose forwards the application online to such agencies for verification and comments as may be required for completing such an inquiry and the instructions issued by the Central Government from time to time in this regard shall be strictly complied with by the State or Union territory and District concerned.

(4) the comments of the agencies referred to in clause (C) are uploaded online by such agencies and accessible to the Collector or the Secretary, as the case may be, and the Central Government.

(5) the Collector or the Secretary, as the case may be, on being satisfied with the suitability of the applicant, grants him the citizenship of India by registration or naturalisation and issues a certificate of registration or naturalisation, as the case may be, duly printed from the online portal and signed by the Collector or the Secretary, as the case may be, in the form as prescribed in the said rules;

(6) the Collector and the Secretary shall maintain an online as well as physical register, in accordance with the said rules, containing the details of the person so registered or naturalised as a citizen of India and furnish a copy thereof to the Central Government within seven days of such registration or naturalisation.

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