391 Afghani, 1,595 Pakistani migrants granted Indian citizenship during last 3 years, Centre informs Lok Sabha

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Wednesday said that the 391 Afghani and 1,595 Pakistani migrants have been granted Indian citizenship during the last three years.

"As per the data available in the online system, 391 Afghani and 1,595 Pakistani migrants have been granted Indian citizenship during the last three years (2016 to 2018). In 2019, 40 Afghani and 712 Pakistani migrants granted the Indian citizenship till December 6," Rai said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

He also said that the data regarding Sikh and Hindu refugees, who came from Afghanistan and Pakistan, is not centrally maintained.

"Provision for capturing online the citizenship data of migrants from minority communities namely Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian hailing from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh was introduced in 2018. As per available data, 927 Sikhs and Hindus from Afghanistan and Pakistan have been granted Indian Citizenship since then," added Rai.

This comes as the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which seeks to grant citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Zorastrian communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, was introduced in the Rajya Sabha earlier today.

The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday with a majority of 311 votes against 80 where 391 members were present and voted.