District collectors in eight States, UTs empowered to grant citizenship under CAA; central panels phased out

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has transferred the processing of pending citizenship applications under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, from Empowered Committees —comprising Central government officials, including those from the Census, Intelligence Bureau (IB) and postal departments— to district Collectors in eight States and Union Territories (UTs).

District Collectors in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam (except tribal areas), Tripura (except tribal areas), Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh have been authorised to process CAA applications, as per the August 19 order, making the earlier arrangement of multi-agency committee redundant.

The order is significant as the amendments to the CAA Rules, which first came into effect on March 11, 2024, have been notified after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in West Bengal. The amendments brought in days before 2024 general elections had concentrated the powers to process the citizenship applications of members of six non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who entered India before December 31, 2014 without any documents or illegally.

The CAA was strongly opposed by the then Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal. To bypass the role of the State government in processing the applications, MHA constituted at least four Empowered Committees —two at the district level, headed by Central government officials— to clear the citizenship applications. The committees were created days before the Assembly polls in West Bengal in April this year.

A large number of the Matua community, comprising Hindu Namasudras with roots in Bangladesh, and an important electoral block are the intended beneficiaries of the CAA in West Bengal. Though the legislation was brought in for undocumented migrants, the Rules mentioned several documents to be provided by the applicants including a document issued by a government authority in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh following which several Matuas could not find their names in the voter list after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

Citizenship is a subject under the Union List of the Constitution and State’s role could have come in play in providing logistics such as office space and police verification of applicants.

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What the August 19 order states

The order issued by the MHA on August 19 states that all applications pending before the Empowered Committees and District Level Committees in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam (except tribal areas), Tripura (except tribal areas), Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will be transferred to the concerned Collector.

The order also makes the March 11, 2024 MHA notification implementing the Citizenship Amendment Rules inapplicable to these jurisdictions. Two subsequent MHA orders issued in February and March 2026 have also been rescinded, while actions already taken under them have been protected.

The Citizenship (Third Amendment) Rules, 2026 notified on August 19 empowers Collectors in these jurisdictions to receive, scrutinise and dispose of applications for registration or naturalisation under Section 6B of Citizenship Act.

Under the amended rules, the Collector is required to verify the documents submitted by an applicant, conduct any necessary enquiry, administer the Oath of Allegiance and determine whether the applicant meets the eligibility requirements. If satisfied that the applicant is a fit and proper person, the Collector can grant Indian citizenship.

An application can be rejected if the applicant fails to appear personally to subscribe to the application and take the oath despite being given reasonable opportunities.