New Delhi:

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Wednesday that helpline numbers will be launched soon to assist applicants for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA-2019). According to MHA, the applicants will be able to get information related to CAA-2019 by calling free of cost.

“Helpline number to assist applicants for Indian citizenship under CAA -2019 will be launched soon. Applicants will be able to get information related to CAA-2019 by calling free of cost from anywhere in India. The service will be available from 8 am to 8 pm,” MHA posted on X.

The MHA on Monday notified CAA Rules, 2024 removing legal barriers to rehabilitation and citizenship to such persons, and will give a dignified life to refugees who have suffered for decades.

Earlier, the MHA provided a web portal on which eligible non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan fleeing religious persecution can now seek Indian citizenship.

A mobile app ‘CAA-2019’ will also be launched very soon to facilitate applications through mobile app.

Now, the persons persecuted from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh on religious grounds of six minority communities – Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians– can apply for the grant of Indian citizenship on portal – indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in.

The portal was made available on Monday night soon after the MHA notified the rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA-2019), now called the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024. The rules grant Indian citizenship to these refugees who had sought shelter in India before December 31, 2014.

This is a specific portal on which the people persecuted from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh on religious grounds can apply for Indian citizenship. All the six minority communities– Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians– persecuted from the three countries, who had sought shelter in India before December 31, 2014, can submit applications in a completely online mode on the web portal named “Indian Citizenship Online Portal”.

An application will be submitted to an Empowered Committee through the District Level Committee headed by a designated officer. All documents along with photographs are to be uploaded online and the applications will be processed after a background check by security agencies.

As the CAA is for undocumented people from the six communities, a clutch of documents including those issued by Government authorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to be uploaded by CAA applicants to get citizenship.

As per the rules, the applicant will have to appear in person to subscribe to the application and take the oath of allegiance, failing which the district-level committee may recommend refusal.

The applicants will have to produce an “eligibility certificate” issued by a “locally reputed community institution” confirming that he or she belongs to “Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian community and continue to be a member of the above-mentioned community.

The online application process provides multiple categories under which an applicant can seek Indian citizenship. These include: (i) a person of Indian origin (ii) a person married to a citizen of India (iii) a minor child of an Indian citizen (iv) a person whose parents are Indian citizens (v) a person who or either of parents was a citizen of Independent India (vi) a person registered as Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder (vii) a person seeking citizenship by naturalisation – an adult registered as overseas citizen of India for five years, and who has been living in India for a year.

The applicant can submit any of the following documents while applying for Indian citizenship under CAA: (i) a Copy of a passport issued by the Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan governments (ii) a birth certificate issued by a government authority in these countries (iii) educational certificate from a school/college/board or university in Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan (iv) identity document of any kind issued by government authorities in these countries (v) residential permit issued by Foreigners Regional Registration Officer or Foreigners Registration Officer in India (vi)any licence issued by government authorities in these three countries (vii) land or tenancy records in these countries (viii).

Any document that shows that either of the parents or grandparents or great-grandparents of the applicant is or had been a citizen of these countries. In effect, any document issued by a government authority in Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan to establish that the applicant is from either of these countries is valid for the citizenship process. This applies even if the document is past its validity period.

The applicant will also need to prove that he or she entered India before the cut-off date of December 31, 2014.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jodhpur:

“This is like real Ram Rajya for us,” said a Hindu migrant from Pakistan living in Jodhpur as celebrations broke out after the Centre implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA, four years after the contentious law was passed by Parliament.

In the settlements of Hindu migrants from Pakistan, the residents lit lamps and burst firecrackers on Monday night soon after the rules to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014, were unveiled.

“We had been waiting for this for long. With this (CAA) becoming a reality, many those in line for citizenship can hope to become Indian nationals soon,” said Dinesh Bheel, a Hindu migrant from Pakistan.

Expressing delight over the development, another migrant Perumal said this would pave the way for citizenship and help the distraught migrants in leading a better life. “We can get citizenship after six years of residing in India. This will help lots of those who have been waiting for citizenship”, he said.

With the unveiling of the CAA rules that came days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, the Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants – Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians – from the three countries. The rules come into force with immediate effect, according to a gazette notification.

According to Seemant Lok Sangathan, which advocates for Pakistan migrants in India, around 35,000 migrants in Jodhpur have been waiting for citizenship. The influx of these Hindu migrants from Pakistan has increased in the past 10 years, it claimed.

Welcoming the implementation of CAA and the reduction in residency period from 10-12 years to 6 years, the president of the Seemant Lok Sangthan Hindu Singh Sodha said, “But the CAA talks about only those migrants who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, and those who came afterwards, will be eligible for citizenship as per the old law”.

“This condition is injustice for about 20,000 people who came to India after this date in the past 10 years,” he said.

A large number of Hindu migrants from Pakistan reside in Rajasthan’s western districts such as Barmer, Bikaner and Jodhpur.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)