West Bengal will process all pending Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) applications within six months, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said Saturday.
The move aims to accelerate the granting of citizenship to persecuted minorities from neighboring countries. By delegating powers to district magistrates, the state intends to remove administrative bottlenecks that have delayed the process for many applicants.
Adhikari said that the law is designed to provide legal status to those fleeing persecution. "The law grants citizenship and is not meant to revoke it," Adhikari said [1].
According to the Chief Minister, the state has already issued approximately 24,000 citizenship certificates [1]. This initial wave of approvals serves as a precursor to the broader push to clear the remaining backlog within the six-month window [2].
To meet this deadline, the state government is streamlining the verification process. Adhikari said, "We will clear all pending applications within the next six months" [2]. The focus remains on ensuring that eligible individuals receive their documentation without further delay.
The announcement comes as the state government seeks to clarify the intent of the CAA. Adhikari said that the legislation is a tool for inclusion rather than a mechanism for stripping rights from residents of West Bengal.
“"The law grants citizenship and is not meant to revoke it."”
The expedited processing of CAA applications in West Bengal represents a significant administrative shift in how the state handles citizenship for displaced minorities. By empowering district magistrates to finalize these claims, the government is attempting to resolve a long-standing political and humanitarian backlog, potentially altering the demographic and legal landscape of the region.
