New Delhi: As many as 7,306 Pakistani nationals applied for Indian citizenship till December 14, 2021, Union minister of state for home affairs (MoS home) Nityanand Rai informed Parliament on Wednesday.y. Pakistani nationals account for nearly 70 per cent of the 10,635 applications for Indian citizenship received till the specified date, according to data provided by the Union home ministry.
Rai was replying to a query from MP Abdul Wahab who sought details of current applicants for Indian citizenship, including the data of their present citizenship.
The MoS further said applications for Indian citizenship are pending from other countries, including Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, the United States, Nepal and Bangladesh. He added as many as 1,152 applications are pending from Afghanistan, 428 from Stateless, 223 from the US and Sri Lanka, and 189 and 161 from Nepal and Bangladesh, respectively. As many as 10 applications are pending from China as well, the minister told the Parliament.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Rajya Sabha MP K Keshava Rao wanted to know about the total number of applications that India received from minority groups — Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Jain and Buddhist – of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan between 2018 and 2021. He also asked how many people were granted citizenship by India.
Rai said the Centre has received 8,244 applications for Indian citizenship from minority groups from these neighbouring nations between 2018 and 2021, and granted citizenship to 3,117 of them.
Earlier this month, Rai told the Lok Sabha that over 8.5 lakh Indian nationals renounced their citizenship in the last seven years till September 30, 2021. He added 1,11,287 individuals gave up their Indian citizenship this year itself till September 20.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre introduced the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019, and the law came into effect on January 10, 2020. Under the Act, people belonging to minority groups and from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who came to India till December 31, 2014, can apply for Indian citizenship. The Centre is yet to notify rules under the CAA and has asked for time till January 2022 to frame the same.
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