Lok Sabha grants more time to joint panel on Citizenship Amendment Bill
NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha today extended the time for the Joint Parliamentary Committee to submit its report on the Citizenship Amendment Bill.
The committee was been given time till the first day of the last week of the Winter Session to submit its report.
Generally, the Winter Session of Parliament begins in November.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The bill seeks to the grant citizenship to people of minority communities such as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan after six years of residence in India, instead of 12 years even if they do not possess any proper documentation.
The Lower House today approved a motion seeking an extension of the time for the presentation of the panel's report up to the "first day of the last week of the Winter Session, 2018".
The committee, headed by BJP MP Rajendra Agrawal, was constituted on August 23, 2016.