The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday issued the initial set of citizenship certificates under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

This reportedly marks the commencement of the process to confer Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.

According to reports, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, the Union Home Secretary, presented the certificates to 14 individuals after completing their online applications through a dedicated portal, as stated by an official spokesperson.

Ajay Kumar Bhalla also congratulated the applicants and highlighted the salient features of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, while granting the citizenship.

In a recent interview with News18, Union Home Minister Amit Shah indicated that the citizenship granting process would commence this month.

Enacted in December 2019, the CAA aims to provide Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. This encompasses Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians.

Although the CAA received presidential approval following its enactment, the regulations governing the granting of Indian citizenship were only issued on March 11 this year, following a delay of over four years.