- Lok Sabha on January 8, 2019 passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019.
- The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make illegal migrants eligible for citizenship.
- The Bill seeks to facilitate acquisition of citizenship by six identified minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who came to India before 31st Dec., 2014.
- The minimum residency period for citizenship is being reduced from existing 12 years under the present law to 7 years.
- As per the Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh, the bill is not just for Assam but for other states too. He said it is also for migrants who have come from the Western borders and have settled down in Rajasthan, Punjab and Delhi.
