Tripura constitutes state-level committee for granting citizenship under CAA

Guwahati, May 18: In a bid to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, the Tripura state government has started the process of appointing officials to the State Level Empowered Committee and the District Level Committee.

In an official notification, R Reang, IAS, Director of the Directorate of Census Operations in Tripura, has instructed all district magistrates to nominate a Tripura Civil Service (TCS) officer as an invitee for the District Level Committee.  

According to reports, this move is part of the broader effort to process citizenship applications under the amended law. 

The notification, referencing a communication from RD. Meena, Director (Citizenship) at the Ministry of Home Affairs, reads, “With reference to the subject cited above, I am to inform you that RD Meena, Director (Citizenship), Govt of India, MHA, Foreigners Division (Citizenship Wing), has intimated the Director of Census Operations of all States/UTs regarding the constitution of the District Level Committee in connection with the implementation of CAA, 2019 for processing citizenship applications under Section 6B of the Citizenship Act, 1955."

"In this regard, you are requested to nominate one TCS officer who shall be an invitee of the District Level Committee for the purpose of processing citizenship applications under Section 6B of the Citizenship Act, 1955. The name of the said officer may kindly be sent to this directorate at the earliest," it said.

Meanwhile, all District Magistrates of the state have been asked to constitute district-level empowered committees to receive applications under the CAA and undertake scrutiny before forwarding it to the state-level empowered panel.

A statewide awareness programme on the CAA will be conducted so that the concerned persons can apply for citizenship. 

The development comes amid opposition from other political parties, which fear that the new law will trigger communal tensions in the state.

The CAA was enacted in December 2019 for granting Indian nationality to persecuted Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.