Amid SIR, Centre notifies additional panel in West Bengal to clear applications under CAA

The Union home ministry on Friday notified an empowered committee in West Bengal to fast-track applications under the Citizenship Amendment Act in the backdrop of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in the state.

The committee will be headed by the deputy registrar general in the directorate of Census operations in West Bengal. The panel will also comprise an official from the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau, officials nominated by the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer and the National Informatics Centre in West Bengal, and the Postmaster General of the state.

Amid the special intensive revision of voter rolls in West Bengal, several persons from the Matua community in West Bengal, who are Hindu Namasudras with roots in Bangladesh, have applied for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act, The Hindu reported. This is because their names are not in the electoral list from 2002, which would make them eligible to be included in the updated voter list.

Due to the high number of applications under the CAA in West Bengal, the empowered committee in the state has been created as an additional panel to fast-track requests for citizenship, The Hindu quoted a government source as saying.

An empowered committee headed by the director of census operations already exists in all states to process applications under the CAA, the...

Read more