Rajasthan: Camps being organised to grant citizenship to Pakistani Hindu migrants

The Ashok Gehlot-led government in Rajasthan is conducting regular camps to grant Indian citizenship to Pakistani Hindus who have migrated, the state's Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shanti Dhariwal said on Friday.

"The District Collectors of Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Jaipur have been asked to grant citizenship to the migrants under the guidelines adopted by the central government," Dhariwal said, on being asked about the pending applications by the opposition in the state Assembly.

The minister said that the officials in other districts have been asked to send the proposal to the state government, after which a decision will be taken on the same.

"In a camp organised in Jaisalmer in June this year, six Pakistani citizens were given Indian citizenship. The decision to grants it to five others is still under consideration. Similarly, in Jalore, as many as 11 people were accorded the citizenship in the camps organised in both March and June," said the minister.

As many as 2656 application from the migrants were received in Jodhpur, out of which 1112 people have already been given the citizenship, Dhariwal added.

"Out of the remaining applications, 434 have been cancelled, 783 are yet to receive the security clearance and 327 are with the Jodhpur District Magistrate," he said.

Earlier, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai had told the Lok Sabha that as many as 1,310 migrants in Rajasthan have been given citizenship.

The Citizenship Amendment Act, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014. However, the Act was got stalled in the Rajya Sabha.

-ANI