MHA Constitutes Second Empowered Committee in West Bengal to Fast-Track CAA Applications
New Delhi: In a significant move to expedite the processing of citizenship requests, the Union Home Ministry on Friday announced the formation of a second empowered committee for West Bengal. This committee is tasked with accelerating the handling of applications received under the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA).
Understanding the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019
The CAA provides a pathway to Indian citizenship for immigrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who belong to six minority religious communities: Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, and Parsi. To be eligible, these individuals must have entered India on or before December 31, 2014, due to fears of religious persecution in their home countries.
Details of the New Empowered Committee
According to a gazette notification issued by the home ministry, the new empowered committee in West Bengal will be chaired by the deputy registrar general of the state's directorate of census operations. This committee holds the authority to make final decisions on citizenship applications after they have been verified by district-level committees.
The original empowered committee, established in March 2024 and headed by the director of census operations for West Bengal, will continue to operate alongside the new panel.
Reason for the Additional Committee
Central government sources have indicated that the creation of this second committee is a direct response to the rising volume of CAA applications in West Bengal. By sharing the workload between the two committees, the processing time for citizenship requests is expected to be significantly reduced.
West Bengal is home to a substantial number of Hindu immigrants, including members of the Matua community. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been actively engaging with these groups to bolster its electoral prospects in the state.
Composition and Invitees of the New Committee
The new empowered committee allows certain members from the committee notified on March 11, 2024—such as the jurisdictional foreigners regional registration officer and the state informatics officer—to nominate an officer each, who must hold a rank not below that of under secretary.
Other members, including an officer from the subsidiary intelligence bureau and the postmaster general or a nominated postal officer, will remain unchanged.
Similar to the original committee, the new panel will include invitees such as a representative from the office of the West Bengal principal secretary (home) or additional chief secretary (home), as well as a representative from the jurisdictional divisional railway manager.
