MHA Sets Up Two More Empowered Committees In West Bengal For Granting Citizenship
According to a notification issued by the MHA, the two empowered committees will be headed by officers not below the rank of Deputy Secretary.
Published : March 3, 2026 at 1:41 PM IST
New Delhi: Days after reviving an empowered committee under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in West Bengal to process applications for seeking Indian citizenship, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has set up two more empowered committees for the same.
"For the purposes of sub-rule (1) of rule 11A and rule 13A of the Citizenship Rules, 2009, two empowered committees for West Bengal, headed by officers not below the rank of Deputy Secretary to the Government of India, to be nominated by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India are also constituted," said a government notification in possession of ETV Bharat.
The development took place a few days after the Home Ministry revived an already existing empowered committee. Following the revival, the already existing committee is now headed by the Deputy Registrar General, Directorate of Census Operations, West Bengal. Earlier, the Director, Census Operation, headed the empowered committee.
The decision to form two new committees was taken due to the large number of applications seeking Indian citizenship. "These two panels will be additional ones, as West Bengal already has one such committee. However, due to the large number of applications, a decision was taken to constitute two additional panels," a senior official said.
To be headed by a Deputy Secretary, the MHA said that each committee will also comprise an officer of the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau not below the rank of Under Secretary to the Government of India; an officer not below the rank of Under Secretary to the Government of India to be nominated by the jurisdictional Foreigners Regional Registration Officer concerned; and an officer not below the rank of Under Secretary to the Government of India to be nominated by the State Informatics Officer of the National Informatics Centre of West Bengal.
The notification issued Monday night stated that the committee will also include the Postmaster General of West Bengal or a postal officer nominated by the Postmaster General, who must be at least the rank of Under Secretary to the Government of India.
The notification said there will be two invitees, including a representative from the office of the Principal Secretary (Home) or Additional Chief Secretary (Home) of the West Bengal government, and a representative of the jurisdictional Divisional Railway Manager of Railways.
Notably, the Centre implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, following a gazette notification of the rules issued on March 11, 2024. The government aims to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.
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