New Delhi, March 11 (HBTV): The Union Home Ministry on Monday announced the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) after over four years the Parliament passed the law to fast-track the citizenship process for non-Muslims, who have entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh before December 31, 2014.

An official confirmed that an online portal has been established for the entire citizenship acquisition process, facilitating a digital application process. Applicants are required to disclose their year of entry into India without the need for additional travel documentation.

The rules have been framed months after Union home minister Amit Shah promised that this would be done before the 2024 national polls due this summer.

Parliament passed the CAA on December 11, 2019, and the law was notified within 24 hours. According to the parliamentary procedures, the rules for any legislation should have been framed within six months of presidential assent, or else an extension is needed from the Committees on Subordinate Legislation in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

The Union home ministry has since 2020 taken extensions at regular intervals from the committees for framing the rules for eligible people to submit applications for Indian citizenship.

The promise of implementing the CAA was a major poll plank of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last Lok Sabha and the 2021 assembly polls in West Bengal.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has consistently advocated for the implementation of the CAA, considering it a significant electoral agenda. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Mamata Banerjee, has vehemently opposed the legislation, setting the stage for political contention.