GUWAHATI: Two persons in Assam have been granted Indian citizenship through the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA since its implementation last year.
Replying on behalf of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who also holds the Home portfolio, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said according to data received from the Directorate of Census Operations, applications were received from altogether 39 people and two of them were granted Indian citizenship.
He added the applications of 18 others are under examination while the remaining 19 applications have been “closed” but the applicants can apply again for citizenship.
Only individuals belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, or Christian communities, who migrated from Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Afghanistan to India on or before December 31, 2014, can apply for Indian citizenship under CAA.
Meanwhile, Patowary said altogether 156 Bangladeshi nationals were apprehended in the state between 2021 and 2024. Fifty-one of them were apprehended in 2021, 57 in 2022, 22 in 2023 and 26 in 2024.