Guwahati: More than a year after the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) came into force, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has not disclosed how many people have received citizenship under the law.
Despite repeated requests, the MHA has withheld the total number of CAA beneficiaries, The Hindu reported.
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BJP MP Jagannath Sarkar from Ranaghat, West Bengal, said authorities granted citizenship to fewer than 100 people in his constituency, despite nearly one lakh Matuas being eligible. Across West Bengal, officials identified about 2.8 crore individuals from the Matua and Namasudra communities as potential beneficiaries.
The government formally notified the CAA Rules on March 11, 2024. These rules offer a path to Indian citizenship for undocumented Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, Jain, Buddhist, and Christian migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, provided they arrived before December 31, 2014. However, Sarkar urged the Centre to amend the cut-off date and drop the requirement to submit a document proving ancestral links to Bangladesh. He argued that many migrants who fled persecution lacked any paperwork to prove their origin.
After receiving reports from West Bengal, the government revised Schedule 1A of the CAA Rules on July 8, 2024. The updated version expanded the list of acceptable documents to include any certificate issued by a government body or quasi-judicial authority that identifies the applicant—or their parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents—as a citizen of one of the three countries named in the Act.
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To address anticipated resistance in Opposition-led states, the MHA authorized Central government officials—including those from the Census Directorate, Postal Department, Railways, NIC, and Intelligence Bureau—to oversee the application process.
While responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha on April 2, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai claimed “thousands” had received citizenship under the CAA.
However, he withheld the exact figures, even after Trinamool Congress MP Sushmita Dev claimed that authorities had granted citizenship to only 350 individuals.
Lawmakers expected the law to benefit applicants in West Bengal and Assam the most, since most Pakistani-origin migrants had entered India legally and already held identity documents. However, to qualify for citizenship under the CAA, applicants must declare themselves as foreign nationals, which complicates the process for many who already hold voter ID cards and other documents.
Hindu Singh, president of Seemant Lok Sangathan, stated that authorities granted citizenship to around 7,250 out of 8,500 applicants in Rajasthan over the past year. In Gujarat, officials approved at least 373 applications, while in Assam, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary told the Assembly that authorities had granted citizenship to only two applicants.
During the debate in Rajya Sabha on December 11, 2019, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had declared that “lakhs and crores” would benefit from the CAA. Yet, back in 2018, the Director of the Intelligence Bureau told a parliamentary panel that just around 31,000 individuals would qualify immediately.
Despite public interest, the MHA has consistently refused to release application or approval data. The Hindu filed a Right to Information (RTI) request in June 2024, seeking details on CAA applications through the official citizenship portal (indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in). In September, the MHA declined to share the information.
Following the denial, The Hindu filed an appeal with the Central Information Commission (CIC). During the hearing on July 9, Chief Commissioner Heeralal Samariya reviewed the case. Ram Dayal Meena, representing the MHA, declined to make oral arguments and reiterated the ministry’s position in writing, stating that the data was “not being maintained as desired.”
In his order, Samariya ruled that the MHA had responded in line with RTI guidelines, stating: “The reply is self-explanatory, and information permissible under the Act has been duly supplied.” The CIC uploaded the decision at a later date.