Tripura Govt Gears Up for CAA Implementation, DMs Directed to Designate Officials

The Tripura government has started appointing officials for state and district-level committees to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, ensuring smooth processing of citizenship applications. The central government has already issued the first set of citizenship certificates under the new rules.

The Tripura government has begun appointing officials for the creation of the State Level Empowered Committee and District Level Committees (DLCs) to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA). The Directorate of Census Operations Tripura has issued a notification following directives from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

District Magistrates have been instructed to form these committees and designate officials to ensure smooth processing of applications received under the new law. The Ministry of Home Affairs, through its Foreigners Division, requested all states and Union Territories in March to establish these DLCs for handling citizenship applications as per the CAA.

According to the notification signed by R. Reang, Director of the Directorate of Census Operations, each district is to nominate one TCS officer to be part of the District Level Committee. This officer will be responsible for processing citizenship applications under Section 6B of the Citizenship Act, 1955. The nominated officer's name should be submitted to the Directorate promptly.

Implementation of these directives has already started, with districts nominating officials to undertake the task. The central government recently issued the first set of citizenship certificates under the CAA. On Wednesday, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over these certificates to 14 applicants, while many others received digitally signed certificates via email.

The Union Home Ministry notified the rules of the CAA on March 11, 2024, just before the Lok Sabha election schedule announcement. The CAA, passed by Parliament in 2019, aims to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians, who came from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan before December 31, 2014.

The establishment of these committees is a crucial step in implementing the CAA and processing the applications efficiently. The Home Secretary emphasized the importance of the new Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, while congratulating the recipients of the citizenship certificates.