Thousands given citizenship: Minister Rai on CAA

MoS for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on April 2 said that ‘thousands were granted citizenship’ under the CAA after TMC’s Sushmita Dev stated that merely 350 people had received citizenship. Mr. Rai did not specify the number

Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (April 2, 2025) that “thousands were granted citizenship” under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, after Trinamool Congress member Sushmita Dev stated that merely 350 people had received citizenship under the Act. Mr. Rai did not specify the number.

The Act was passed in 2019 but the Rules were notified on March 11, 2024 paving the way for its implementation. The government had neither shared or publicised data on CAA citizenships so far.

The Minister was replying to a debate on the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025 which was passed by the Lok Sabha last week. The Bill was passed by a voice vote in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday even as several Opposition members demanded that it be sent to a select committee for scrutiny as it did not face any appeal process.

Mr. Rai said the government had deported 36,000 “infiltrators” so far. He added the Bill was not against foreigners and only sought to track their movement and create a database on their entry, exit and stay.

Congress’s Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the Bill was “designed for ulterior motives by a control-freak government, bent on sending out a message of fear through the architecture of omniscient, Orwellian surveillance for foreigners”.

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Mr. Singhvi said though the Bill was aimed at foreigners and targeted them as “suspicious,” similar laws could be brought in for Indians in the future, turning them into accused without any crime being committed.