Centre seeks extension till next January for framing rules on CAA : MHA in LS
Jul 27, 2021
By Rajnish Singh
New Delhi, [India], July 27 : Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, in a written reply, on Tuesday, informed the Parliament that it has sought an extension of more than six months for framing rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
The Ministry said that it has requested the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Committees on Subordinate Legislation to grant further extension of time upto January 9, 2022, to frame the CAA rules.
MoS Rai submitted a written reply to a question raised by Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, informing the CAA has been notified on December 12, 2019, and has come into force from January 10, 2020.
"The Committees on Subordinate Legislation, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been requested to grant further extension of time up to January 9, 2022, to frame the rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019," Rai further replied.
This is the fifth extension sought by the government for framing these rules.
According to the Manual on Parliamentary Work, the rules for any legislation should have been framed within six months of presidential assent or seek an extension.
The CAA allows persecuted minorities belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to avail of Indian citizenship.
According to the provisions of the act, people belonging to these communities who arrived in India till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution in these three countries will not be treated as illegal migrants but will be provided with Indian citizenship.
If a person belongs to the aforementioned faiths, from these three countries, does not have proof of birth of parents, they can apply for Indian citizenship after six years of residence in India.
President of India Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the legislation on December 12, 2019.
The Opposition parties and several groups have protested against the implementation of CAA. CAA's detractors believe that the law coupled with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise is intended to target the minorities in India.
