The Union home ministry on Wednesday notified rules empowering district collectors in eight states and Union Territories to process pending applications under the Citizenship Amendment Act instead of empowered committees.

The order covers Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam (except tribal areas), Tripura (except tribal areas), Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Earlier, empowered committees comprising central government officials, including those from the Census, Intelligence Bureau and postal departments, would process applications in the areas.

The Citizenship Amendment Act aims to provide a fast track to citizenship to refugees from six minority religious communities, except Muslims, from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the condition that they have lived in India for six years and have entered the country by December 31, 2014. The Union government notified the rules under the Act in March 2024.

The notification published on Wednesday means that all applications pending before empowered committees in the eight states and Union Territories will be transferred to collectors.

Ahead of the West Bengal elections in April, the Union government had created four empowered committees in the state to clear citizenship applications, The Hindu reported. Through this, the Union home ministry was able to bypass the role of the state government, where the Trinamool Congress was in power at the time, in processing citizenship applications.

While citizenship comes under the Union List according to the Constitution, the state government has a role to play in logistical matters such as office space and the verification of applicants by the police, the newspaper reported.

In May, the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in West Bengal after defeating the TMC in the state polls.

As per the amended rules, the collector has to verify documents submitted by an applicant, conduct inquiries if necessary, determine eligibility and then administer the oath of allegiance.

An application can be rejected if the individual fails to appear personally before the authorities or does not take the oath of allegiance despite reasonable opportunities.

Written by Neerad Pandharipande. Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.

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