Amit Shah (File image)
Home minister Amit Shah (File image)

Union home minister Amit Shah will introduce the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

The Central government on Friday evening circulated draft copies of the Bill to all the MPs of the Lower House.

The business advisory list of the Lok Sabha mentioned introduction of the bill to further amend the Citizenship Act, 1955.

Sources in the government told Northeast Now that the new bill has excluded the areas under Sixth Schedule of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram as well as states having Inner Line Permit (ILP) system from the ambit of the bill.

The new bill, according to the sources, is believed to have said that the person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Christian, Buddhist and Parsi community from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan will get citizenship on the condition that they reside in India for a minimum period of five years.

Sources said that December 31, 2014 has been set as a deadline for the people to get citizenship.

“Any person from Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Christian, Buddhist and Parsi community entering India on or before 31, 2014 shall not be treated as illegal migrants,” sources said.

It is believed that the BJP government has already taken its allies into confidence so that the bill does not face any hiccup in its passage both in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.