New Delhi: The decision whether to grant or not grant citizenship under the newly-enacted Citizenship Amendment Act lies with the Centre and the role of state officials will be minimal, top Home Ministry sources said on Friday.
The applications will be online so the role of the District Collector will be minimised, the Ministry of Home Affairs sources said.
According to the sources, the Foreigner Regional Registration Offices (FRROs), in some cases are under central jurisdiction, but state resources will be utilised if the need arose.
On West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision to suspend work on the National Population Register (NPR) in the state, the source said: “West Bengal can not unilaterally put on hold NPR, it is as per law. No state can stop it. Can a state tomorrow say we can’t do census? This too is as per an act of parliament.”
The sources also said that the law provides for a national identity card under section 14A of the Citizenship Act and such a card could be issued to all those figuring in the NRC. The NPR can be the basis of NRC, they said.
According to the sources, all people will be in all-India NRC if they were born in India on or after January 26, 1950, but before July 1, 1987, and for those born in India on or after July 1, 1987, but before December 3, 2004, they will be in the NRC, if either parent was a citizen of India at the time of their birth.
For those born in India on or after December 3, 2004, they will be in the NRC if both parents are citizens of India or if one parent was a citizen of India and the other not an illegal migrant at the time of their birth.
Also for those born outside India on or after December 10, 1992, but before December 3, 2004, they will be in the NRC if one parent was a citizen of India by birth at the time of their birth.
A person born outside India on or after December 3, 2004, shall not be a citizen of India unless the parents declare that the minor does not hold the passport of another country and his birth is registered at an Indian consulate within one year of birth.
