New Delhi: The Union residence ministry on Friday constituted a second empowered committee for West Bengal to fast-track the processing of citizenship requests acquired below Citizenship Modification Act, 2019 (CAA). CAA supplies for grant of citizenship to immigrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh belonging to their six minority faiths – Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi – who entered India earlier than Dec 31, 2014, fearing non secular persecution of their residence nations. In a gazette notification issued on Friday, the house ministry stated West Bengal’s new empowered committee – which takes the ultimate name on citizenship functions forwarded by the district-level committee after verification of paperwork – shall be headed by the deputy registrar common, directorate of census operations of the state. The unique empowered committee – arrange in accordance with a notification issued by MHA in March 2024 and headed by director, census operations of West Bengal – will proceed to be in existence. The brand new empowered committee, central authorities sources instructed TOI, has been arrange as the amount of functions below CAA within the state has elevated. Sharing of labor is anticipated to compress the processing time. West Bengal has a big variety of Hindu immigrants, corresponding to these belonging to the Matua neighborhood. BJP has been making a significant outreach to them to strengthen its electoral prospects within the state. The brand new empowered committee on CAA permits sure members of the empowered committee as notified on March 11, 2024 – just like the jurisdictional foreigners regional registration officer and state informatics officer – to appoint an officer every, not beneath the rank of below secretary. Different members like an officer of the subsidiary intelligence bureau and postmaster common or a postal officer nominated by him stay the identical. Like the unique empowered committee, the brand new panel shall embrace a consultant from the workplace of West Bengal principal secretary (residence) or extra chief secretary (residence) and a consultant of the jurisdictional divisional railway supervisor as invitees.