The center has established two more empowered committees in West Bengal to decide on applications seeking Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). In a gazette notification, the Union Home Ministry stated that the empowered committee will be headed by an officer not below the rank of Deputy Secretary to the Government of India, to be nominated by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
The decision has been taken to form two additional panels to expedite the processing of a large number of applications. West Bengal already has two such committees. The CAA provides for granting citizenship to immigrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who belong to one of their six minority faiths – Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, and Parsi – and who entered India before December 31, 2014, fearing religious persecution in their home countries.