1,414 Citizenship Certificates Granted In 2021: MHA

In 2021, a total of 1,414 citizenship certificates were granted by authorities including Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), reads the annual report released on Monday.

According to MHA annual report 2021-22, from 1 April, 2021 till 31 December, 2021, 1,120 citizenship certificates were granted by registration under section 5 and 294 were granted by naturalisation under section 6 of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

Central Government delegated its powers to grant Indian citizenship by registration or naturalization in respect of foreigners belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Budhist, Christain or Parsi community from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, to Collectors of 13 more districts and Home Secretaries of two more States.

With this, Collectors of 29 districts and Home Secretaries of 9 States have been authorized to grant citizenship in respect of aforesaid category of migrants. The delegation will speed up the process of granting Indian citizenship to aforesaid category of migrants as the decision would be taken at local level, reads the report.

The report further reads that an online module has been activated under the "Immigration, Visa and Foreigners Registration & Tracking (IVFRT) platform on August 22, 2021 to process the applications for renunciation of Indian citizenship.

"Through this module, an Indian citizen of full age and capacity may apply online for renunciation of Indian citizenship. End to end processing of applications for renunciation of Indian citizenship has been made online.

This online processing aims to reduce compliance burden and to bring transparency in processing of application for renunciation of Indian citizenship," read the report.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has been implementing a Plan Scheme "Immigration, Visa and Foreigners Registration and Tracking (IVFRT)".

The core objective of this project is to develop and implement a secure and integrated online delivery framework to facilitate legitimate travelers while strengthening security. The Scheme is being implemented in a planned and phased manner in consonance with infrastructure/ connectivity readiness of locations supported by effective communication, training and institutional capacity.

The Project has global outreach since the scope of the project includes 194 Indian Missions abroad, 108 ICPs (Immigration Check Posts), 13 FRROs (Foreigners Regional Registration Offices) and 700+ FROs (Foreigners Registration Offices) in the District Headquarters across the country. As on December 31, 2021, integrated online Visa application system has been implemented in 184 Indian Missions abroad, 13 FRROs, 700+ FROs, and 108 Immigration Check Posts (ICPs).

Biometric enrolment software has been implemented in 184 Indian Missions abroad to capture the biometric details of visa applicants.
A total number of 108 Border crossing points have been declared as authorized Immigration Check Posts (ICPs). During the year 2021, one Airport ICP namely Khushi Nagar (UP) was established.

(With Inputs from ANI)

Also Read: Assam: Pregnant Woman Dies During Treatment, Fake Doctor Arrested