Citizenship Amendment Act will be implemented before Lok Sabha elections, know more about the act

The rules of 'Citizenship Amendment Act' (CAA) will come into force before the Lok Sabha elections in the country. Trusted sources of the Central Government have given this information on Tuesday. The Union Home Ministry has completed its homework on this matter. CAA rules may come into effect in January or February. Under the rules of the Citizenship Amendment Act, the rules for obtaining Indian citizenship will become easier for non-Muslim immigrants from India's three Muslim neighbouring countries, which include Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. These six communities include Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed by the Parliament on December 11, 2019. This bill got the assent of the President just a day later. Through CAA, it will be easier for minorities belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to get Indian citizenship. Such minorities have entered India on or before December 31, 2014. Earlier, to acquire Indian citizenship, a person was required to live in India for at least 11 years. This rule has been simplified under the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019. The period for acquiring citizenship has been increased from 1 to 6 years.

This law has not been implemented yet because rules are yet to be made under the CAA. The Parliamentary Committees on Subordinate Legislation in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha had given extensions to the Union Home Ministry till December 31, 2022 and January 9, 2023, respectively. After this, the parliamentary committees again approved the expansion.