Central government's decision to form two more committees for CAA in West Bengal

News Topical, Digital Desk : The central government has constituted two new empowered committees in West Bengal to expedite the processing of citizenship applications under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA).

The Home Ministry made this decision on Friday. With this move, a total of four empowered committees are now operational in the state, tasked with making final decisions on applications. This move raises hopes of relief for millions of migrants, especially those from the Hindu community, who fled to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, fearing religious persecution.

Under the CAA, the path is clear for people belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi communities coming from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to get Indian citizenship, provided they entered India before December 31, 2014.

Home Ministry issues new gazette notification

The Home Ministry on Monday issued a gazette notification detailing these two additional empowered committees. Both new committees will be chaired by the Deputy Registrar General of the Directorate of Census Operations in West Bengal. This arrangement is in accordance with the notification issued on February 20.

The original Empowered Committee, which was notified in March 2024, will remain in place. It is chaired by the Director of Census Operations for Bengal. The new committees will help further accelerate the work of the original committee.

What will be the role of members in the committees?

While some of the members of the newly empowered committees remain the same as those from the original committee (notified on March 11, 2024), some changes have been made. For example, the Regional Foreigners Registration Officer (FRRO) and State Information Officer can now nominate an Under Secretary-rank officer in their place.

On the other hand, the Assistant Intelligence Bureau officer and the Postmaster General or a postal officer nominated by him will remain as members. The new committees will include a representative of the Principal Secretary or Additional Chief Secretary (Home) of the Home Department of Bengal and a representative of the concerned Divisional Railway Manager as special invitees. These committees will finalize applications received from the district-level committees after document verification.

The Matua community has high hopes

West Bengal has a large Hindu migrant population, including the Matua community, which is prominent. These people, primarily from Bangladesh, have long sought Indian citizenship. The implementation of the CAA has raised their hopes.

The BJP has been reaching out to the Matua community for the past few years to build a strong base for the upcoming state assembly elections. The formation of these new committees will further accelerate the implementation of the CAA, which could have repercussions on both the political and social levels.

Read More: The government is preparing to evacuate Indians stranded in the Gulf; IndiGo will operate 10 special flights.