- The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has simplified the process for Indians who want to renounce their citizenship.
- Earlier, the Central Government issued a notificationgranting powers related to citizenship applications under existing rules to authorities of five states.
Important points:
- Provisions have been made for applicants to upload documents online, with an upper limit of 60 days for the renunciation process to be completed.
- Over 6.7 lakh Indians renounced their citizenship between 2015-19.
- In 2018, MHA included a column on “circumstances/reasons due to which applicant intends to acquire foreign citizenship and renounce Indian citizenship” (under the Citizenship Rules, 2009).
Citizenship:
- Citizenship is listed in the Union List under the Constitution and thus is under the exclusive jurisdiction of Parliament.
- The Constitution does not define the term ‘citizen’ but details of various categories of persons who are entitled to citizenship are given in Part 2 (Articles 5 to 11).
- Unlike other provisions of the Constitution, which came into being on 26th January, 1950, these articles were enforced on 26th November, 1949 itself, when the Constitution was adopted.
SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT