The rules for the citizenship amendment act (CAA) are likely to be notified before the Lok Sabha elections 2024.
It may be mentioned here that the CAA rules, which are reportedly ready to be notified, were under works ever since the act was passed in 2019.
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The CAA was passed in the Lok Sabha on December 10, 2019 and in the Rajya Sabha two days later after it was introduced in the upper house by union home minister Amit Shah.
The controversial CAA aims to provide citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
The act drew heavy criticism from politicians and citizens alike for ostensibly singling out Muslims and excluding them from its purview.
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The act aims to provide citizenship to Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians purportedly fleeing persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
According to The Indian Express, the rules are now ready and an online portal to apply for citizenship under the CAA is also in place.
“We are going to issue the rules for the CAA in the coming days. Once the rules are issued, the law can be implemented and those eligible can be granted Indian citizenship,” the newspaper quoted sources as saying.
“All things are in place and yes, they are likely to be implemented before the elections. The applicants will have to declare the year when they entered India without travel documents. No document will be sought from the applicants. Requests of the applicants, who had applied after 2014, will be converted as per the new rules,” these sources continued when asked about the timing.